On the intervening night of July 19-20, a young woman, visibly under the influence of liquor, driving on the wrong side of the road in the heart of Panjim, knocked down two young men on a motorcycle. Even as we were putting this package together, on the evening of Monday July 21, an anguished mother called Herald, saying her son was knocked down near Agassaim by a driver who appeared drunk and they were rushing him to hospital. Why do these incidents happen? Quite clearly because the law-if not an ass, is not a tiger either, thereby making the phrase “one for the road”, a standard one, at the end of each Goa party
Sandesh Khutkar and Kaiser Braganza, are battling for their lives in hospital one with a ruptured liver. Both were hit by a speeding car early Sunday. The driver was allegedly drunk. Drunken driving has been problem in this State that hosts around 30 lakh tourists during the year added to the 14 lakh population and so many more lakh unaccounted migrants.
Many come to Goa because of its advertised cheap liquor, something that
they cannot have in many of their States – especially in many places in north India. Others start the habit of imbibing the glass that cheers once they are in the state for work.
Locals have always had access to liquor. This has led to a deadly combination of loaded weapons on the road, alcohol and a car. Most tourists hire vehicles and roam around on them, hopping from party place to place. A visit to the Baga stretch has seen vehicles – both local registration numbers, outside registration as well as the distinctive yellow number plates parked all along with people obviously inside restaurants and bars having a good time.
After all Goa is a party place Then there are the wine stores. People buy drinks – both local and tourists and then park their vehicles by the side of the road, sometimes with music blasting and drink.
Night driving down the north Goa stretch from Baga to Panjim can be quite an ordeal. Many time tourists fling the bottles out of the windows littering the
sides of the rods after they start drinking on the beaches, disobey lifeguards enter into the water an generally create a nuisance for themselves.
“We can only educate people not to drink and drive when they come to
restaurants. Beyond that, there is not much we can do. The police have to
be strict. Rs 2,000 is not enough. They need to be put behind bars at least for 48 hours,” says Gaurish Dhond, a hotel ownerand a senior member of the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa.
As of now one wonders whether enforcement agencies – the Traffic Police
and the RTO are actually serious about cracking down on drunken driving.
Senior officers assert that drive against such violators continues even as majority accidents due to drunk driving have been reported in the tourist popular coastalareas.
“Drunken driving is definitely a nuisance. We are stepping up the drive…,”
Panjim Traffic P I Dharmesh Angle tells us. While RTO Uday Gawas says that “We take action as per the law.” However, there are rarely any
suspensions even for fatalities, and therefore no deterrent. Officials admit
that the coastal areas are more prone to drunk-driving accidents. We intensify our
drive during the tourist season but with
the latest accident in Panjim, we have
decided to keep a close watch on drunken
drivers throughout the year,” says one
official.
Traffic officials claim that personnel
on nakabandi duties every night are
armed with alcometers to keep a check
on the violation. During the last calendar
year, the traffic department booked 179
persons who failed breathalyzer test
while 75 cases of drunk driving have
been reported this year till date. “Most of
these cases were reported in the coastal
belt,” the officer disclosed. In the capital,
the Panjim Traffic Cell booked about
15-20 cases this year.
According to police, most of the
violators are youngsters, many of whom
police say, don’t mind shelling out Rs
2,000 fine on being caught for the
offence. Many-a-times the offence is not
even detected unless there is an accident
or if a driver is noticed driving erratically.
Thirty-year-old Shobika Gaur’s case is
one such example as her driving allegedly
under the influence of alcohol came to
light after she crushed two young men on
a motorcycle.
While the traffic rules are not
taken seriously by many drivers, the
traffic department says they have been
making efforts to create awareness on
safety through regular lectures in the
educational institutions and sensitizing
taxi drivers, motorcycle pilots and other
sectors across the State.
All this still hasn’t prevented this from
happening almost on a daily basis on
Goa- having one for the road.
