The Hyderabad city police is taking no chances this New Year’s Eve and plans to take strict action against drunk drivers and over-speeding offenders.
Apart from making some roadways off limits for December 31 night, the city police is also mandating restaurants and places serving liquor to provide cab or chauffeur services upon payment.
“Management which serves liquor (or) has taken excise permit shall offer cab services (or) chauffeur driver service on payment after conclusion of the events to prevent drunken driving,” say the guidelines issued by the police, as quoted by Times of India.
In addition, roads on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) and highways will be closed between 11pm and 5am on the New Year's Eve. However, those travelling from the RGI airport will be allowed to use the road.
The PVNR Expressway and all other flyovers will also be unavailable for use between 11pm and 5 am.
Hyderabad’s recent spate of accidents due to drunk driving has made the police want to be extra careful to ensure such incidents don’t happen on New Year’s Eve.
For instance, on October 2, five-year-old girl Sanjana had to be put on ventilator support after a car hit her and her mother as they were crossing road the bus stop at Pedda Amberpet near Hayathnagar. The car passengers, including the driver, were inebriated.
In another major accident, nine-year-old girl Ramya was hit by a car on July 1 while returning home from her first day at school July 1. The driver, an engineering student, was drunk. Ramya passed away a few days later.
“By September we booked around 15,000 cases against drunk drivers and nearly 5,000 people have been imprisonment in drunk driving cases. Rest of the offenders were fined,” Jitender, ACP Traffic told TNM earlier.
The number of cases registered, were higher in the age group of 20 to 25.
Earlier on December 15, the Supreme Court had banned the operations of liquor shops or bars within a range of 500 metres of national and state highways. This was despite an existing ban on liquor stores within 50 metres of national and state highways as per Andhra Pradesh Excise Rules 2012.
However, a report in The Hindu says that there are around 160 wine shops and 30 bars on the highways where they pass through cities, towns and nagar panchayats.
Last year, even after the stringent police vigil on the roads on New Year's Eve, 1,073 cases were registered for drunk driving between 11 pm on December 31 and 3 am on January 1. Three deaths were also reported.
"Most of the offenders we caught were aged between 18 and 35 years, and they were all on the roads after partying," Traffic DCP Hyderabad AV Ranganath had told Times of India last year.