PANAJI
Amid a heightened crackdown on traffic violations following the Verna IDC mishap, the Traffic Department is likely to write to the IDC Chairman to direct companies to ensure the mandatory purchase of alco-meters and random checks on their drivers.
“This incident is an eye-opener for larger establishments to take responsibility for traffic safety, besides the enforcing agencies. We will write to the IDC Chairman urging them to direct IDCs and companies to mandatorily purchase alco-meters and conduct surprise checks on their drivers for drunk driving,” a senior officer revealed to The Goan.
The decision comes a day after traffic personnel met with several companies across 10 industrial estates to keep a check on their drivers. On the other hand, Goa Police are separately conducting their drive against drunken driving with 70 alco-meters procured barely a year ago.
According to details obtained by The Goan, the new alco-meters not only accurately count the amount of alcohol in a person’s system but also print a photo of the violator on the slip, besides displaying it on the device screen.
On Tuesday, SP Traffic Rahul Gupta stated that his officers visited IDCs in Kundaim, Thivim, Pilerne, Corlim, Tuem, Bicholim, Verna, Honda, Canacona, and Kakoda, instructing them to follow the advisory.
“In light of the recent MV accident at Verna involving a bus transporting employees, Traffic Officers visited multiple companies across all the IDCs in Goa. They held meetings with management and instructed them to procure breath analyser test units (alco-meters). They also mandated conducting breath tests for drivers of buses transporting employees and trucks used by their firms to prevent such incidents in the future,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Mapusa JMFC sentenced a bus driver to two days of imprisonment for driving the bus in an inebriated state. The man, identified as Fazil Ahmed Farash, a native of Haveri in Karnataka, was caught by the Calangute traffic cell on May 28 for the violation.
