Mumbai: Drunk driving down by 20% on New Year's Eve

A biker blows into a breathalyser for the traffic cops. Pics/Satej Shinde

This year is already turning out to be better than 2016. As Mumbai brought in the new year, the traffic police registered a nearly 20% drop in cases of drunk driving across the city. Other traffic violations such as riding without helmets and rash driving witnessed a drastic fall as well.

The traffic police give the credit for this to rigorous enforcement and better awareness of the rules. Usually, the traffic police are on their toes during New Year's Eve, and start taking action right from December 25. This year, these efforts seem to have finally paid off, as the entire city registered 565 cases of drunk driving, compared to 705 cases last year. Nearly 50% of the drunk driving violations took place in north Mumbai, while south Mumbai witnessed the least number - 42.

The traffic police were out in strength on New Year's Eve, with as much as 90% of the force on duty, along with the local police. "We started nakabandi right from 7 pm. We had 80 checkpoints, half of which were moving," said a traffic cop. Important junctions and arterial roads were given priority, along with stretches that traditionally witness the most cases of rash driving, like Nariman Point-Girgaum Chowpatty stretch and Bandra Reclamation. Special check points and nakabandi were carried out on these roads. This was also the first time that the force used E-challan instruments for the year-ending drive, with 500 devices being deployed.