Bhubaneswar: Altogether 599 people were held driving in an inebriated state during a three-day period all over Odisha, an official of the State Transport Authorities (STA), said Monday. The official stated that the STA along with the police launched a state-wide operation to discourage people from drunken driving. In the process, the STA detected 599 offenders from September 7 to September 9.
“In accordance with the directives of the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety, a total of 338 driving licences have been confiscated for suspension,” the STA said in a statement.
With Covid-19-related restrictions lifted by the Odisha government following a decline in the number of cases, the Transport Department along with the state police resumed the drive to check drunken driving in April 2022. The enforcement staff detained 350 vehicles of the offenders in April.
As many as 222 people were detained for the offence in April and a total of 455 prosecution reports were submitted to courts for action, the STA informed. Apart from this, 1,568 other cases have been detected for violation of the Motor Vehicles Act.
Despite a set of strict laws and regulations, drunken driving continues to be one of the major reasons behind road accidents in India. A total of 246 road accidents have occurred in Odisha in 2021 due to drunken driving.
Odisha in 2019 September had amended the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 which mentioned that in the case of drunken driving, first-time offenders will face imprisonment of up to six months or a fine of up to Rs 10,000. Violations for the second time can lead to up to two years prison term and/or a fine of Rs 15,000.