The authorities managed to avert what could have deteriorated into a serious situation after they caught a drunk bus driver transporting dozens of pilgrims to Gangotri. The bus belonging to a private travel company was being driven from Haridwar to Gangotri with 29 passengers.
According to sources, the personnel from the assistant regional transport office (ARTO) were conducting routine check when they halted the said bus near Fakot. When the officials checked the driver, they came to know that he had consumed four times more than the permissible limit of liquor. This information stirred up concern among the passengers who were from outside of Uttarakhand and hence not accustomed to travel on mountain roads in the Himalayan region.
Sources further informed that on Monday morning, a bus operated by a private travel company left from Haridwar to Gangotri with a group of 29 pilgrims said to be hailing from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. When the bus was on its way to Gangotri, the Tehri ARTO Jyotishankar Mishra was conducting a routine checking drive at Fakot on the Chamba-Rishikesh highway in Tehri district. When the official suspected something and made the said bus to halt, the driver of the bus was found to be stinking of liquor. Considering this, the official got an alco-metre which was used to administer the bus driver a test. The check with the alco-metre ascertained that the driver had consumed about four times the permissible quantity of alcohol. As this news reached the passengers of the bus, it led to much anxiety among them. Considering the seriousness of the situation, the ARTO started the procedure for cancellation of the driver’s driving license and his green card. Further, the bus driver identified as Devendra lal, son of Mohan lal, a resident of Shishamjhadi, Munikireti in Rishikesh was also taken into custody by the officials. later on, the pilgrims bound for the shrine of Gangotri were sent towards their destination in another vehicle arranged for them. The ARTO Jyotishankar Mishra informed that the bus driver had been apprehended on the charges of driving while under the influence of liquor and the bus in question had also been seized.