With pubs and restaurants operating at full capacity on the weekend, drunken driving has once again become common on the city roads.
The Bangalore Traffic Police (BTP), who are acting strictly against drunk drivers, conducted a special enforcement drive last weekend against drunken driving. On average, they logged more than 200 cases a day in three of their divisions — East, West and North. By contrast, they were booking 100 cases a day in December.
“We have definitely increased our enforcement and are taking strict action against these drivers. It is difficult to say where exactly we are registering more cases, but our officers are alert at every checkpost,” said Kuldeep Kumar Jain, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic), West Division.
He added that 82 cases were registered on Friday, 78 on Saturday and 75 on Sunday in his division, where the special crackdown against drunken driving was conducted between 9.30 pm and 12.30 am.
Though the BTP had suspended using breathalyzers during the Covid outbreak, they have come back in use now. A senior officer said a new set of devices have been handed to BTP officials.
In the Eastern Division, where localities like Indiranagar, MG Road and Koramangala house some of the most famous waterholes, the BTP on average booked around 80 cases each on the three days of the special drive, according to K M Shantharaju, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) East Division.
A senior official said the BTP collected nearly Rs 20 lakh a day in fines during the special drive as the penalty for drunk driving in the city is
Rs 10,000.
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Published 13 April 2022, 19:59 IST