Mumbai: Mumbai Police has booked at least 486 motorists and bikers for driving under the influence of alcohol on Holi. The number of drunk driving violations have fallen to half in comparison to last year's 684 cases. Police said the reason for the decline is the constant awareness drive done by the police authorities. A total of 5,396 cases of various traffic violations were recorded in the city for Holi, including helmet-less riding and riding triple seat.
The awareness campaigns of Mumbai police to curb drunk driving in the city has fared well this year, as the numbers dipped to half against that recorded in 2019. This year, 486 cases of drunk driving were recorded in Mumbai during Holi celebration in a coordinated crackdown by Mumbai Police and Mumbai Traffic Police (MTP) on violators who incessantly broke rules during the Holi festival.
Over 5,396 cases were recorded this year, in comparison to 8,385 cases recorded in the previous year for violations like speeding, riding without a helmet, riding triple seat, rash driving, parking in no parking zones among others, said Madhukar Pandey, joint commissioner of police (traffic). “Those who were caught for drunk driving have had their licences seized. They will be produced in the court on Wednesday for further action,” said Pandey.
Pranay Ashoka, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations) and Mumbai Police spokesperson, said, “We had deployed proper security to curb any nuisance from happening during the festive season. The maximum numbers of motorists were booked for riding without a helmet and drunk driving.” The highest number of drunk driving cases were in DN Nagar in the western suburb of Andheri at 36, while the eastern suburb of Chembur came second with 27, officials said. Malad in the north of the metropolis topped the list for those caught riding without helmets at 252, while Worli in the island city saw the maximum 26 people caught for riding triple-seat, they said.
Police booked over 3,025 bikers for riding without a helmet, while 341 motorists were booked for riding triple seat and 1,471 motorists were booked for speeding through CCTV cameras, said Pandey. For the festival of colours this year, Mumbai police had deployed 6,500 policemen in addition to the 2,500 traffic cops to ensure no untoward incidents took place in the city. Precautionary measures like the formation of anti-eve teasing squads, night patrolling, city-wide nakabandi and deployment of women constables were taken to maintain the law and order.
In 2019, Mumbai police had booked 684 people for drunken driving, while 8,385 cases of speeding were registered across the city. In all, last year, Mumbai police and Mumbai Traffic Police had registered around 11,000 cases for traffic violations.