Decline in number of challans issued for drunk driving

After the high of last year, the number of challans against drunk drivers has come down this year.

After the high of last year, the number of challans against drunk drivers has come down this year.

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Last year, close to 15,000 challan were issued for drunk driving. This year, the Gurgaon police have fined only 7,500 people till October 10.

What is pertinent is that consumption of liquor has increased this year.

Most of the drives against drunk driving are carried out at MG Road, which is a hub of pubs. MG Road has nine malls, 50 bars and three liquor vends.

Following cases of abduction and gangrape, the first quarter of this year had witnessed hectic activity against drunk driving.

Following this, the footfall of pub-hoppers decreased as cops, equipped with alcometers, would stand guard outside the pubs to crackdown on drunk drivers. However, the number of such drives has considerably gone down and now they are restricted only to weekends.

However, DCP (east) Maheshwar Dayal attributes this decline to awareness. "People have become are aware of drives against drunk driving and are afraid of getting caught. They prefer not to drive after drinking and instead hire cabs or bring along someone who does not drink," he said.

Puneet Singh, owner of Mudpot restaurant in Sahara Mall, said, "People are cautious these days and don't drive themselves after getting drunk."

These pubs/bars are also asked by the police to get their customers dropped home if they are drunk.