More than 230 persons caught for drunk driving were penalized under the Motor Vehicles (MV) Act in a duration of two days in Garhwal Range area. The range IG/DIG Sanjay Kumar Gunjiyal had instructed that a two-day intensive drive be launched against drunk driving from December 11 in view of the consistent rise in road accidents occurring in Dehradun and other parts of Garhwal range.
Gunjiyal said that 188 persons were caught for drunk driving in Haridwar and Dehradun districts while 45 were caught in mountainous districts Uttarkashi, Pauri, Tehri, Chamoli and Rudraprayag. Rash and drunk driving are major causes of road mishaps in the State. Similar drives will be conducted periodically in the future against drunk driving, he said.
In Uttarkashi district, 434 vehicles were checked wherein two persons were caught for drunk driving. One of them was penalised under the MV Act while in the other case the car was seized by the police with an order being issued for cancellation of the driver’s license. In Haridwar district, 2757 vehicles were checked and 92 persons were caught for drunk driving. An order has been issued for cancellation of six drivers’ licenses while 89 vehicles were seized and challan report has been sent to court.
In Dehradun district, 2590 vehicles were checked and 96 persons were caught for drunk driving. An order has been issued for cancellation of 37 drivers’ licenses.
In Pauri district, 1018 vehicles were checked and eight persons were caught for drunk driving and challan was imposed on them under MV Act. In Chamoli district, 210 vehicles were checked and four persons were caught for drunk driving. An order has been issued for cancelling three drivers’ license.
In Tehri district, 2309 vehicles were checked and 28 persons were caught for drunk driving. An order has been issued for cancelling 24 drivers’ licenses. In Rudraprayag district, 507 vehicles were checked and three persons were caught for drunk driving followed by imposition of challan on them.
Notably, a total of 37 accidents and 21 deaths have occurred in Uttarkashi since January this year. The number of accidents and resulting fatalities is 66 and 60 respectively in Tehri district, 45 and 25 respectively in Chamol, 32 and 16 respectively in Rudraprayag, 21 and 7 respectively in Pauri; 290 and 107 respectively in Dehradun and 285 and 170 respectively in Haridwar district.
Gunjiyal had earlier expressed concern over rising cases of road accidents being reported in the range at a meeting of district police officers. “The officers need to ensure that drunk driving is stopped in their respective districts at any cost,” he said.
Observers opine that police administration finally sitting up in alarm over the spiraling incidents of road accidents is a welcome development. “But the drives against violation of traffic rules should continue without a break,” one of them says.