On January 20, another drunk driver ended the life of an innocent bystander. Sadly, this incident doesn’t surprise most people in Goa, because bars are open late and the only way to get home is by driving your car or riding your bike, thus endangering people on your journey home.
Angana Naik and her brother were waiting on a road alongside the Mapusa bus stand at around 6 am when a drunk driver in a large vehicle mowed them down. Angana is no more, her brother has been injured quite seriously. The driver claims that he was sitting at a local bar near Alankar theatre until 11.30 the night before. His state though, says a lot more. There are many theories. One is that he was actually drinking in the bar until an hour or two before the accident. This is quite plausible since the bar in question is notorious for staying open until at least three to four am. The other is that he may have left at 11.30, just like he said, but picked up alcohol and drank it in his car. Either way, one person died because of it.
Why does this happen though? Is it just a lax excise department which is turning a blind eye to bars open way beyond the timings stated on their licences? Is it the fact that people are driving home drunk? Or is it a combination of both? There are other sides to this argument though.
The bar open late in Mapusa has been doing so for year. No one files a complaint against the proprietors because they have been known to keep a grudge and act on it. This is also not an isolated case; there is a bar like this in almost every major town in Goa. Some villages have them too. On the tourist belt, bars are legally open until 4 am. This is where the excise department comes in. There has to be a system of checks to ensure that bars close at the right time. The license to stay open until four am is a very expensive one, a cost that cannot be borne by small local bars, so there is definitely something wrong here. This blatant case of non-compliance must be looked into. The system must be applicable to everyone across the board.
When it comes to driving drunk, while that is a strict no-no, the approach on this issue is a conscientious one. Take a Mumbai or a Bengaluru for instance. Driving or riding drunk brings with it a series of complications, the first of which is the confiscation of the perp’s licence. But in these metros, there are alternatives. You have autorickshaws and a variety of taxicabs, from your standard yellow and black to the Olas, Merus and Ubers who are a phone call or a click on an app away. Then there are stand in drivers and rent-a-cars that are decently priced. In Goa, post 9-10 pm, there are overpriced taxicabs. The fare from Panaji to Baga at 10am and the return journey will set someone back by atleast Rs 2000. That is not affordable.
While this by no means that drinking and driving should be condoned, there is a massive overhaul of the system to be undertaken if this law has to be enforced. The government has been sitting on this issue for far too long. Too many lives are at stake.
