Shortage of equipment hits drunk driving check in Visakhapatnam

Visakhapatnam: With violent brawls on the roads and drunken driving on the rise in Vizag, Vijayawada and other big cities and towns in AP, cops are at a loss on how to tackle the drunken motorists due to acute shortage of breath analysers.

Consumption of alcohol has been increasing in the state as it is not just the winebibbers who are gulping beer but also the neo-boozers who are adding to the sales of beer, but the men-in-uniform said it is ill-equipped to rein in the violators.

A senior police officer on condition of anonymity said that though the government has been suggesting to the cops to conduct special drives to check drunken driving on National Highways and other major roads, the fact is that the police department is facing shortage of gadgets and equipment to handle cases of drunken driving.

At present, over 1,000 police stations in the state have about 250 breath analyzers and 16 speed laser guns but nearly 20 per cent of the breath analyzers are outdated. Sources said that Vizag cops have 30 breath analyzers, the highest number in the state.

However Vizag traffic police say that they require more advanced breath analyzers as the existing equipment is not in optimum condition and need some repairs.

A total of 24,258 road-accidents were reported in AP in 2015 and nearly 48 per cent of the accidents were reported due to drunken driving.

In Vizag over 18,000 motorists were caught for drunken driving in 2015 while the number was over 7,800 in Vijayawada last year.

Considering the importance of the special drive against drunken driving to mitigate the road-crashes, the department has sent proposals for procuring around 1,200 breath analyzers.

However, there was no sanction from the concerned departments. Recently the cops have brought the shortage of gadgets to the notice of in-charge DGP N. Sambasiva Rao and they are expecting a positive nod in the coming days.