Year of drunks? 5,587 kicked out of Delhi Metro in 2013

If figures are anything to go by, 2013 was a year when tipsy people preferred riding the Metro in the Capital. While in 2012, only 591 passengers were caught travelling drunk in the Metro, the number registered a tenfold increase to 5587 in 2013.

If figures are anything to go by, 2013 was a year when tipsy people preferred riding the Metro in the Capital. While in 2012, only 591 passengers were caught travelling drunk in the Metro, the number registered a tenfold increase to 5587 in 2013.

According to officials, most of these passengers were found misbehaving in an inebriated state. With such numbers continuously rising, the Delhi Police and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) have started regular checks inside the trains to catch intoxicated people who misbehave with fellow passengers.

In 2011, Delhi Police had caught a mere 107 such passengers. The police also attribute the increase in such cases due to heightened vigilance and special drives that have been launched to nab drunk passengers.

"We have increased patrolling inside the trains and our men are quick to catch a passenger, who is misbehaving after getting drunk. As a result the number is higher this time," said a senior Delhi police official, requesting anonymity. As per the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) act, passengers misbehaving in drunk state can be fined of Rs 250.

The Delhi Police have deployed its personnel in all the six lines in plain clothes and they keep a vigil in the crowded trains, especially in the adjoining coach to the women’s coach. A primary reason for someone to be nabbed in a drunken state is misbehaviour during the ride.

For Christmas and New Year’s Eve, the Delhi Police had formed six teams which conducted random checking in the evening hours at crowded Metro stations like Rajeev Chowk, Central Secretariat, Mundka, Kashmere Gate and Yamuna Bank.