Surprise checks post 2 am to rein in drunk drivers

Fatal accidents due to drunk driving have increased over two fold this year in Mumbai with 10 accidents claiming 11 lives till August as compared to the entire last year when four persons were killed in four accidents, prompting the Mumbai Traffic Police chief to take a slew of measures to curb the ever-rising menace.

The fatal drunk driving accident at Sahar in the early hours of Sunday, reported by this newspaper, where a watchman was killed is at least the 12th accident. The department is in the process of collecting information of drunk driving accidents in September and October.

Commenting on the Sahar accident that occurred at 3.20 am, Mumbai Traffic police chief Milind Bharambe said, “This is just another example that shows the anti-drunk drive needs to be carried out for a longer time. Our anti-drunk drive ends at 2 am, but we have decided to conduct surprise checks beyond 2 am and catch culprits by surprise.”

The traffic police will ask bar and pub owners to keep a breath analyser kiosk where patrons will be put through an alcohol test and those who have surpassed the permissible limit as per law will be guided by bar/pub owners to call his/her driver or to use public transport. Also, the traffic cops will keep an eye outside bars to ensure this procedure is followed. “We will request the bar owners to undertake this procedure in public interest. We hope to get a positive response,” said Mr Bharambe.

Another problem is that out of 11, 336 persons, including 14 women and 18 repeat offenders, who were caught for drunk driving, only 3,973 were imprisoned for a day or more, but the remaining were released after they paid a fine set by the respective courts.

Mr Bharambe refused to comment on the lenient punishment in majority of the cases, but said, “We hand over the probe to police station but now we will vigorously follow them up and ensure they get more punishment.” At least '2.59 crore has been collected as fine from them.

The traffic police will also change its “traditional” nakabandi points now. The anti-drunk drive after the Janhavi Gadkar fatal drunk drive incident is being carried out everyday. A senior police officer said that Mr Bharambe will monitor drunk driving cases on a daily basis and has ordered to register more cases.

Manpower crunch in the traffic police is another serious issue. A source from the department said, “The traffic divisions have increased from 25 to 34, but the skeletal staff has been further scattered to this divisions. There has been no increase in manpower. Also, Mumbai has heavy flow of traffic and so most of the traffic police is involved in traffic regulation.”