The traffic police in Visakhapatnam are expecting more people to drive under the influence of alcohol till Sankranti due to cheaper liquor costs and the coming winter holidays.
In addition to the 25 teams with three employees strewn over the city at key intersections, the agency is deploying extra teams to monitor drunk driving.
According to ADCP (traffic) Adinarayana, the police are intending to cancel driving licences as a precautionary step to avoid intoxicated driving, excessive speeding, and unsafe driving.
“As per the MV Act, we have recommended the RTO suspend 84 driving licences for risky driving, drunk driving, and over speeding,” Adinarayana stated.
On Thursday, he claimed that since liquor prices were reduced, consumption of alcohol has increased, and that owing to the Christmas and New Year holidays, more and more vehicles may be seen on the road.
He believed that traffic will grow as people return to their homes and more people come to Visakhapatnam to celebrate the season’s events. 378 drunk driving instances were booked in zone-1 traffic area, which includes the city, and 469 in zone-2, which includes the industrial suburbs and Kancharapalem districts, in the last three days. The RTO was instructed to suspend 56 zone-1 driving licences and 28 zone-2 driving licences.
After a one-and-a-half-year gap, the police started drunk driving checks on December 1. 335 drunk driving cases have been reported in Vizianagaram, and the drive in Srikakulam has yet to resume.
