Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The decision of pulling down the shutters of ahatas ( joint attached to liquor shop) in the state from is yielding positive results as the state reported a 5% drop in the road accidents since the order came into force on April 1. Every year thousands of people die on state roads because of speeding, reckless and negligent driving. In last year alone, 13,427 people were killed in 54,432 road accidents in the state.
As per Sources said that in the research undertaken by Police Training and Research Institute (PTRI) it has come to fore that drunken driving is one of the main reasons for road accidents, however, because of the high parameters of establishing the inebriated state of the motorists, only a few drunken driving cases makes it to the police files.
In the case of drunken driving, the police have to procure a certificate to establish that the motorist involved in the case was inebriated and took liquor more than the permissible limit. For this the driver has to be taken to hospital for physical examination. The certification is done by police through a digital ‘breath analyzer’, to find out the liquor content in blood. The number of people driving in drunken state has come significantly down after the ahatas were closed down in the state.
Earlier, motorists after having liquor at ahatas and drink joints would hit the road in drunken state, escaping police eye, putting the life of other commuters in danger. As per the research rural areas witnessed more accidents than urban.
Around 9,531 people died in rural areas in 30,394 accidents, while the figure stood at 3,896 on roads in urban areas which saw 24,038 accidents. With the decision on closing ahatas and banning drinking in open spaces, the motorists who dare to drive in a drunken state can lose their driving license forever.
Significant drop in accidents: ADG Janardan
ADG, PTRI G Janardan told Free Press that a significant drop in road accidents has been seen in the past one month in the state. The impact of closing of Ahata’s will be assessed after studying figure for at least three months. Area under 200 police stations currently witnessed maximum road accidents, he said.
