Helmets on display at a shop in Cuttack and a customer checks out a helmet. Pictures by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, June 30: Twenty-one-year-old Suryakant Mohanty bought a helmet today, two years after he bought his motorcycle. Mohanty was forced to wear a helmet following a drive by the police to enforce road safety here in the city.

“I have been riding my motorcycle without wearing a helmet for the last couple of years. But the ongoing checking by the police at different locations, forced me to buy and wear a helmet,” said Mohanty, a young professional.

Like Mohanty, many other two-wheeler riders are now seen making beeline to various stores selling helmets in the city.

“There has been a steep rise in the sale of helmets in the last couple of months. Earlier, we used to sell only two to three helmets a week but we are now selling around three to four helmets a day,” said Rajendra Prasad Sahu, 37, a shopkeeper.

A variety of helmets are available at a prices ranging from Rs 375 to Rs 1,500 for branded ones with the ISI mark to suit all pockets. According to Sahu, youngsters prefer to wear a helmet with trendy colours and graphics on them and they are ready to shell out Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 to get that perfect design.

“Having a sports bike and a trendy helmet adds to the personality of the rider. Hence, I decided to go for special graphics on my helmet,” said Saurabh Sethi, 25, a student.

Non-branded helmets are also in heavy demand because of the cost factor as they are available for Rs 300 to Rs 750.

“Many customers just want a helmet to avoid being caught by the traffic cops. Hence they prefer cheap helmets that are available in plenty. Besides, we also sell branded helmets. The overall sale of helmets has gone up by 15 to 20 per cent,” said Chaintanya Patra, 35, another seller from Badambadi.

Senior traffic police officers admitted there had been a rise in the level of awareness among the people, which is essential to ensure road safety.

“Enforcement of traffic norms is now being done on a regular basis and the people are also becoming conscious of the importance of wearing helmets, which is for their own safety,” said a senior official.

Regular checking of two-wheelers, helmets and documents of vehicles at different and prominent streets is also helpful in keeping a check on anti-social activities. Apart from this, stringent action is also being taken on rash and drunken driving in the city, the official added.