360 fined for drunken driving in Delhi on new Year’s Eve: Police

According to official data, the traffic police issued 2,129 challans to drivers driving under the influence in the 16 days till December 31

The Delhi Traffic Police issued 360 challans to drivers for drunken driving on New Year’s Eve, officers aware of the matter said on Monday.

Traffic police officers check for drunken driving at Patel Chowk in New Delhi on Sunday. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

According to official data, the traffic police issued 2,129 challans to drivers driving under the influence in the 16 days till December 31 — nearly double the 1,109 challans for the same issued in the corresponding period in 2022, and around eight times the 274 challans issued in the corresponding period in 2021.

Special commissioner of police (traffic) Surender Singh Yadav said the traffic police had on December 24 launched a special drive to crack down on drunken driving, and to prevent accidents in run-up to and on New Year’s Eve.

“The main focus was to take strict action against those driving under the influence of alcohol as it is a major cause of road crashes at night. We increased police presence on the roads and formed special teams to ensure commuters’ safety and prevent any untoward incident,” Yadav said.

“The special check was kept near pubs, bars and hotels where parties are organised. As a result of this special drive, we prosecuted 1,304 persons between December 24 and December 31,” he said.

Yadav also noted that 16,173 people were booked for drunken driving in 2023. “In 2022, the number of booked persons were 2,225, while the figures were 2,831 and 3,986 in 2021 and 2020 respectively. It is the need of the hour that the violators booked under drunken driving must be made to pay steeper fines and undergo harsher punishments to deter the violators to commit these violations again,” he said.

To be sure, tests for drunken driving were halted till mid-2022 after the Covid-19 outbreak in March 2020 over concerns that these checks — which involve people blowing into a breathalyzer device — could spread the coronavirus. With the lifting of Covid-related restrictions, and pubs and bars coming back to business, public mobility in the city has increased.

Giving details of areas where cases of drunken driving were reported in 2023, the special CP said that the maximum number of violators were challaned in Badarpur, with 653 cases of drunken driving, followed by Sarita Vihar (628), Najafgarh (610) and Hauz Khas (587).

He noted that Badarpur, Sarita Vihar and Najafgarh are on the outskirts of the city, have large number of farmhouses, and share borders with neighbouring states, while Hauz Khas has a large number of bars and pubs.

“The other areas identified as hotspots of drunken driving were Punjabi Bagh (539), Lajpat Nagar (533), and Nangloi (498). Besides prosecuting violators, we are also organising road safety awareness camps regularly in schools, colleges and major intersections, to provide information in connection with road use. Short films, lectures and educational literature about safe driving were also distributed during these camps,” Yadav said.