Drunken drive checks on Hyderabad-Bengaluru NH

Hyderabad: Traffic almost came to a halt for nearly an hour between RGI Airport and Aramgarh junction on the Hyderabad-Bengaluru NH on Saturday evening.

While motorists blamed the unscientific way in which the drunken drive check was being conducted by traffic cops on the NH, RGIA traffic inspector Bhaskar Reddy attributed the jam to an accident at Shamshabad.

“An autorickshaw hit a car at Shamshabad and there was a jam. We cleared it. The auto driver was drunk. He was booked and the autorickshaw has been seized,” he said.

However, motorists blamed the cops saying the jam occurred before the accident. “Barricades were put up on the NH and traffic cops were targeting people travelling in cars. The vehicles were moving at a snail’s pace. I flew back to the city after a tour. And now I am stuck in this jam,” said businessman Avinash M.   

Drunken drive check should be conducted without blocking traffic. Suspects should be taken to the side of the road. “Here the entire traffic on NH was slowing down. Checks against drunken driving are important but it must be done without causing inconvenience” said another motorist.

Motorists said the RGIA traffic police conducts drunken driving checks on the Aramgarh to RGIA stretch on the Hyderabad-Bengaluru NH regularly. “I have seen drunken driving checks at least 10 times on this stretch,” said Raghuveer, who works in Shamshabad.

“We have been conducting drunk drive checks every weekend. On an average around 15 people get caught here on weekends," said inspector D. Bhaskar Reddy.