E-Paper
Coronavirus scare: Dehradun cops dump alcometers to check drunken driving
The police said stopping use of alcometers was a precautionary step.
In the wake of coronavirus threat across the globe, Dehradun police have stopped using alcometers to check drunken driving in the city.
Deputy inspector general Dehradun, Arun Mohan Joshi issued the order to all the police stations and outposts of the city.
“Considering the deadly outbreak of coronavirus, we have decided to stop using alchometers to check drunken driving as a precautionary measure. As the gadget requires one to exhale into it, there are chances that he might catch the virus from any infected person who had earlier exhaled into it,” Joshi said Sunday.
He said, “Till further notice on the same, if required police would take blood or urine samples of any suspect of drunken driving.”
Meanwhile scientists from the Nainital-based Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) have cancelled their tours to foreign countries amid coronavirus threat.
Scientists from ARIES usually visit different countries for space related science research but after the coronavirus outbreak, two of its scientists have cancelled their scheduled tour to China and Taiwan.
According to officials, senior scientist Anil Pandey, who had to go to Taiwan on February 2, cancelled his tour due to the coronavirus scare.
In the past two months, Pandey participated in a collaborative programme with Taiwan for a specific space study programme.
Similarly, another senior scientist, Alok Gupta who was awarded a fellowship in Shanghai, China in the second week of February, did not go there.
Gupta had a seven-day tour scheduled for research and study at the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, but he too has cancelled his trip.
