More than 1,500 licences impounded

Traffic police may have lot of numbers to prove how harsh they have been on drink driving, but grey areas still exist.

Traffic police may have lot of numbers to prove how harsh they have been on drink driving, but grey areas still exist. HT spoke to joint commissioner of police (traffic) Satyendra Garg on what more can be done to tackle this menace.

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Delhi police carry out on-spot checks against drunk driving only once a week. Do you think it is enough?
No, we have regular checks against drink driving. On Fridays we carry out a comprehensive drive. Even on weekdays we do have breath analysis done on motorists at strategic points. With limited manpower, we maximise the output of our resources.

Many people make use of the 'happy hour scheme' at restaurants and pubs and drive back home much before the traffic police put up its barriers.
We do carry out checks even during the evenings sometimes. But we can certainly identify it more often during the evenings.

In Mumbai, motorists found drunk have even been imprisoned. But Delhi traffic police have failed to get any such judgement...
Whenever we catch a person with more alcohol in his blood than the permissible limit, he has to go to the court. Alcometer is a very reliable mechanism to check the quantity of alcohol in blood. It is up to the court to fine him or hand him the imprisonment. We punch his driving licence and even impound his vehicle. In case of a fatal accident, we slap serious charges like culpable homicide not amounting to murder (Indian Penal code sections 279, 304).