The Hyderabad Traffic Police have issued a strict warning against drunk driving on New Year's Eve, stating that over 100 special teams would be deployed across the city with breath analysers.
A special drive would be conducted on December 31, starting from 10 pm and continuing till 5 am.
The police also said that those who are caught driving while drunk, may even be sent to jail at the Chanchalguda Prison for a period between one and 15 days.
Officials said that those who are caught for the first time, will have their vehicles seized, and pay a penalty, while repeat offenders will undergo imprisonment.
"We will video record the entire drink driving check. If any citizen resists the breathalyser test, we have the option of escorting the individual concerned to the nearest government hospital for blood test,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) AV Ranganath was quoted as saying.
This comes days after the Hyderabad Police issued traffic restrictions for New Year’s Eve, along with guidelines to the managements of 3 star and above hotels, clubs and pubs.
The Rachakonda police in a press release said that the programmes had to be held between 8 pm to 1 am.
“ORR will be closed from 11 pm to 5 am for the general public except bonafide passengers travelling to and from the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA). All flyovers will be closed from 11 pm to 5 am,” the press release stated.
The permissible alcohol limit is 30 mg/100 ml of blood, i.e., 30 micrograms/100 ml of blood. Anything above that, as recorded by a breath analyser, would be considered drunken driving.
Last year, in a special drive during the night of December 31, as many as 957 drunk drivers were arrested or detained, while a staggering 1,594 drunk driving cases were booked by the three commissionerates in the city.