Jamshedpur, March 26: City Police have issued an advisory for Holi, announcing elaborate traffic arrangements to check incidents of drunken driving, speeding, dangerous driving, triple riding, minor driving, driving or riding without helmet and other traffic offences.
The city police are all set to track traffic offenders, especially those who drink and drive, during Holi. City Police will be well equipped with breath analysers to test drunken drivers.
“Drinking in public is a nuisance with a serious potential to result in brawls and quarrels causing serious injuries, death and damage to public and private property. This affects the peace and tranquility of the area and creates problems in maintaining law and order,” said a senior police officer. He also said that special teams will be deputed to maintain law and order and nab the people drinking at the public places in the city.
Sources in police revealed that strategic locations at Sakchi, Bistupur, Kadma and Sonari have been identified where the drive will be carried out.
Officials informed that starting tomorrow special drive would be carried out at different areas of the city to check drunken driving. The drive will be carried out for four days till March 30, the day the festival will be celebrated in the city.
A police official said that drunk drivers would also be made to undergo a medical test within two hours of being caught. “The necessary logistics for this will be worked out after the portable breath tester arrives,” he added.
Talking about the safety aspects of the breath analysers, he said that separate straws will be given to persons, who drive the vehicle, during breath analysis. “A straw used by one person will not be given to others so that there is no possibility of spreading of diseases through ones saliva”, he added.
According to him, during the drive the vehicle of an offender will be seized, he will be fined and the vehicle will be released the next day with a warning. He said that the offenders will have to pay fine of Rs 2,000 as per the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act. It might also lead to imprisonment for six months. As per relevant sections of the MV Act, the punishment can be enhanced to three years with a penalty of Rs 3,000 for the second offence.
The senior traffic department official said that during the drive they would press into service a breathalyzer borrowed from the health department. ” We have requested the office of district civil surgeon to provide us the breathalyzer so that the gadget could be used during the drive,” he said.