April 23: Petrol pump owners in several south Bengal districts have started selling fuel to bikers without helmets in violation of a government order.

The No Helmet, No Petrol drive was initiated in the districts and in Calcutta following an instruction from the chief minister that only bikers wearing the safety gear would be given fuel. Banners were put up at the petrol pumps in a bid to create awareness about the importance of wearing helmets while riding two-wheelers.

This paper found many pumps in Nadia, Burdwan and Birbhum selling petrol to bikers without helmets.

Nadia district magistrate Sumit Gupta said: "It is no point blaming only the petrol pump owners. It is our collective responsibility to implement the No Helmet No Petrol drive. Somehow, we have failed to ensure this. It is a big problem, which cannot be solved only by law. The issue needs to be solved through awareness."

The additional superintendent of police in Kalyani, Swati Bhangalia, said: "We are trying our best to create awareness among motorcyclists as well as petrol pump owners. We have started surprise visits to the pumps."

Mohanlal Srivastav, a petrol pump owner in Chakdah, described the government's initiative as "good" but said it was difficult to implement it.

"My workers deny fuel to bikers without helmets. But the customers often become angry and hurl abuses at them. There have been occasions when the customers have assaulted my employees," Srivastav said.

The Telegraph spotted many motorcyclists in Durgapur town driving into petrol stations without helmets and getting their bikes refuelled.

"We cannot refuse petrol to motorcyclists without helmets unless the administration ensures our security. Many petrol pumps have been ransacked and workers beaten up," said Biswadip Roy Chowdhury, the secretary of the West Bengal Petroleum Dealers' Association in Burdwan zone.

The situation is hardly different at the pumps in Birbhum.

"A banner with the slogan 'No helmet No petrol' is still hanging at my pump. But we have failed to implement the drive. Several youths on bikes come without helmets and threaten to ransack the pump," a pump owner said.