A traffic policeman paints the top half of a vehicle headlamp in Guwahati with black paint. Picture by Biju Boro

Guwahati, March 22: Raktim Saikia (not his real name) couldn’t believe his eyes. The policeman darted across the street near Judges Field with a can of dark paint and a brush.

“Which party does he belong to?” he wondered, remembering the graffiti war as the Lok Sabha elections draw near.

By the time he realised what was going on, his car headlights had been painted black by the policeman. Saikia’s fault: His lights were on full beam. He didn’t know, nor did hundreds of others like him, that the city police were on a “dimming” drive, launched soon after sunset today. The anti-glare coat for tinting windowpanes (sunfilm) was also the target of the cops’ ire.

Additional superintendent of police (traffic) Arabinda Kalita said the police had bought a good quantity of black paint. Not only that, they had even engaged painters for “tarring” headlights on full beam.

Kalita explained that the first drive was launched at two busy points — Judges Field and Panbazar Road. The drive will start on the Guwahati-Shillong Road tomorrow and continue till the top half of the headlights of vehicles — both public and private — plying in the city are painted black.

“We have concluded that the highest number of accidents occur in the city at night as the drivers do not use their dippers. According to a conservative estimate, some 200 fatal accidents occurred in Kamrup district last year owing to the use of full-beam headlights,” he said.

Though today’s drive was carried out without any fines being imposed, the cops may be forced to take harsher steps in the coming days. But Kamrup metropolitan district magistrate Chandra Kamal Bhuyan said public response was good on the first day; all, barring a few teenagers, co-operated with the officials.

Bhuyan claimed that the district administration had issued a notice a month ago prohibiting the use of headlights on full beam and tinted glass under Section 144 of the IPC. The magistrate said the drive would spare no one, including VIP vehicles.

“The headlights do look ugly and I have to get them properly painted tomorrow,” Saikia said. Nevertheless, he supported the police action. “Hopefully, this will teach all of us to follow rules,” he quipped, as he drove off.