PANAJI
With instances of drunken driving once again on the rise, Traffic Police have implemented a new strategy to rigorously monitor people driving under the influence of alcohol to curtail these incidents, which have been responsible for mishaps and fatalities.
The new scheme comes in the wake of the horrific Banatarim accident involving the influential Sawardekar couple followed by two other cases -- fortunately not fatal -- within a gap of five days.
The traffic police, across Goa, will be undertaking the drive to crack down on drunk drivers. Deputy Superintendent of Police (North Goa-Traffic) Siddhant Shirodkar has emphasized that the scope of scrutiny extends beyond just bars where the likelihood of a significant quantity of liquor being served or consumed is apparent.
“Our personnel will conduct thorough assessments of vehicles parked in proximity to bars and similar establishments such as top restaurants, resorts, casinos, shacks, party venues, etc. Subsequently, they will relay this information to the relevant enforcement units whose teams will strategically position themselves at locations where evading the policemen would be impracticable for potential offenders,” he explained while speaking to The Goan.
The teams will be equipped with alco-meters with the department allotting a minimum of six alcohol breath analyzers to each traffic cell.
“It will be a discreet mission wherein the police personnel will be deployed to collect information,” an officer said.
The department, now headed by SP Akshat Kaushal, has acknowledged the rise in accidents due to drunken driving and that motorists are using various tactics to avoid nakabandi points /enforcement teams by changing their drive route, etc.
“Hence it is of utmost importance, in fact, the need of the hour for the traffic police to adopt new prosecution tactics and devise new methodology to intercept motorists driving under the influence of alcohol,” reads a note circulated to the traffic cells pan-Goa.
