Bengaluru: Revelers who think that they can get drunk and escape the police by leaving the party venue faster, beware.
The traffic police will start the Drunk and Drive (DD) Drives by 8 pm itself and will continue the same till 4 am to nab the revelers on a high. What is worth noting is that these drives will be a daily affair and not a weekend crackdown.
As per sources, the traffic police have taken this decision after government pushed the deadline of bars and pubs to 1 am. Last Saturday, police caught as many as 900 odd drivers who were drunk and hundreds of vehicles were seized, creating a record itself.
Speaking to NewsKarnataka.com, Santosh Gowda, owner of a bar and restaurant at Banashankari said that the police action even before 10 pm is uncalled for. “The business is already getting ruined because of rising number of MRP shops and this move of the traffic police will only further spoil the show,” says this worried businessman.
Meanwhile, many ‘party animals’ are of the opinion that if the traffic police start cracking the whip by 8pm then the whole purpose of extending the bar and pub timings till 1 am is going to fall flat.
“Bengaluru is still in premature stage of cosmopolitanism. All business including bars is dull in the city. Extension of time limit hardly brings 5 – 10 percent of business and the expenses outdo the business”, said Sohan Gul, a co- owner of a bar on Church Street.
As found by this reporter, almost 70 percent of the bars are not open after 12 midnight in CBD and adjacent areas. The situation is the same even in Jayanagar, BSK, JP Nagar, Koramangala, Indiranagara, Sadashivanagara and other area. Many opine that Bangalore is not a cosmopolitan by nature. Government’s move came as a result of voice raised by “Culturally Minority” people.