Crackdown on drunk driving takes toll on pubbing

With even a pint of alcohol likely to get you arrested, many pub-hoppers are preferring to drink at home rather than hang out at pubs.
 
The city's swish set are wary of visiting pubs nowadays. With the traffic police arresting people caught drunken driving and producing them in court, most youngsters who frequent pubs are preferring to drink at home, to avoid being caught drunk driving on roads. This has led to a decline in business between 20 and 40 per cent in the past one month, according to pub owners. With city police commissioner AK Khan directing traffic police to stick caution posters at pubs, lounges, bars and restaurants, the managements are in a dilemma how to run their regular business. "Since the traffic police have been strictly enforcing the drive against drunken driving, customers are quite apprehensive to attend various events at pubs and lounges. Even when we arrange events for couples and stags without any entry fee, customers are not much interested," explained the managing director of a pub in Banjara Hills. He added that with alcohol being available easily at bars, more people are preferring to drink at home. Many pub owners say the new laws where less than a pint of alcohol consumed can cause an arrest has been the final straw. Traffic police are booking drivers when measurement of alcohol is at least 0.3 mg of 100 ml on the breathalyser screen.  Meanwhile, police said the number of drunken driving cases have gradually gone down due to the drive. GVG Ashok Kumar, deputy commissioner of police (Traffic) told Express that drunken driving have gone down in posh localities of Jubilee Hills and Banjara Hills where a number of pubs and lounges are located. "When we initiated the drive, there were number of drunken driving cases booked in Jubilee Hills and Banjara Hills. This week, the number of cases have come down," he added saying they would stick posters of 'No drink and drive' at pubs and restaurants.
164 Drunken Drivers Arrested on Saturday, Sunday: In continuation of the drive against drunken driving, traffic police conducted special drives on Friday and Saturday at various places in the twin cities from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. A total of 164 drunken drivers were arrested and their vehicles detained, of which 46 were cars, 113 two-wheelers and five were autos. The drivers were produced before the IV Metropolitan Magistrate court in Nampally on Monday. The Magistrate imposed fine of up to `2,500 and their driving licences suspended for three months.

By Mouli Mareedu

moulimareedu@gmail.com

Actor Nikhil turns poster boy

Nikhil to be ambassador for the Traffic Police and help in curbing drunken driving

Tollywood actor Nikhil Siddharth, who was caught for drunken driving the other night, took a smart U-turn on Sunday. He has decided to be the Hyderabad Traffic Police's ambassador and support their special drive against drunken driving. "In fact, I was not aware of the Hyderabad Traffic Police's latest drive against drunken driving and their decision to book cases against erring people under Section 185 (A). I want to be an ambassador for the HTP and support the special drive to create awareness among youngsters to prevent road accidents. I have already decided to do it with the assistance of a social organisation - WWF in the city," Nikhil Siddharth told City Express. After returning to the city on November 7 from a tight shooting schedule at Pattaya, Thailand, the actor of Happy Days' fame had partied at a lounge in Jubilee Hills on Friday night. He apparently had consumed alocohol during the course of the evening and was caught by the police while he was returning home in his Skoda Laura. An alumnus of the Begumpet Public School, Nikhil said he had been keen on social service since his days at the school. "When I was a student of the Muffakham Jah College of Engineering and Technology, I had participated in a number of social service activities. I will come out shortly to do something on drunken driving,'' Nikhil said, adding that right now, he was busy with the release of his next movie, Veedu Teda, which is set to hit the screens on Nov 18. "I will approach the HTP shortly to their nod so that I could help them," he said. CV Anand, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic), who introduced the special drive against drunken driving with the enforcement of Section 185 (A) for the first time in the city, welcomed Nikhil's initiative to work with the HTP. "We are happy to note that Nikhil wants to work with the traffic police in curbing drunken driving and create awareness among the youth. We welcome him and he can approach us,'' he said. Nikhil will appear before the Fourth Metropolitan Magistrate Court on Monday afternoon and pay the penalty for his drunken drive.
Box: October 17, 2011: Film actor Navdeep and his girlfriend Saru went to the Excess Club and Lounge at the Novotel Hotel along with a friend Jayavardhan and allegedly thrashed an engineering student in an inebriated condition at Madhapur. May 8, 2010: Navdeep arrested for drunken driving.

By Mouli Mareedu
moulimareedu@gmail.com

Actor Nikhil Siddharth Caught for Drunken Driving

Tollywood actor Nikhil Siddharth is the latest to fall into the hands of Hyderabad's traffic cops who have taken the latest drive against drunken driving in all earnestness. The young actor of 'Happy Days' fame was caught driving his Skoda Laura, his girl friend by his side, and reportedly high on spirits. Siddharth had recently returned from shooting for his forthcoming film from Pattaya, Thailand. On Friday night, after hanging out at a lounge in Jubilee Hills and consuming liquor, he was returning home, when traffic cops caught him near the NTR Trust Bhavan. Banjara Hills traffic inspector Srikanth said they stopped Siddharth's overspeeding vehicle and tested him with the hand-held breath analyser. It revealed an alocohol content of 37 mg of 100 ml, he said and added that police book drunken drivers with an alcohol level of .3 mg of 100 ml. Siddharth, however, told Express that he is a teetotaler and that police did not book any case against him. "Some of my friends took my Skoda car. They might have been caught by the police. I was not involved in the incident," Nikhil said. Meanwhile, the traffic police said they issued a notice to Siddharth to appear before the Fourth Metropolitan Majistrate on Monday afternoon. "We recovered his Scoda Laura and shifted it to the Banjara Hills police station. He will appear before the court on Monday," Srikanth said.

*October 17, 2011: Film Actor Navdeep and his girlfriend Saru went to the Excess Club and Lounge at the Novotel Hotel along with a friend Jayavardhan and allegedly thrashed an engineering student in an inebriated condition at Madhapur. *On May 8, 2010: Navdeep was arrested for drunken driving by Banjara Hills Traffic police. Later, he paid off penalty to the cop. 

* KT-4000P hand-held breath alcohol analysers: Police book drunken drivers when the measurement content of alcohol displayed is at least .3 mg of 100 ml. The KT 4000P breath analysers, made in Taiwan, offer professional users precise and quick breath alcohol analysis in a user-friendly and compact form. With its wide range of possible configurations, the hand-held instrument can easily be adapted to meet different international regulations and guidelines. The KT 4000 P, specific to alcohol, is unaffected by other possible breath contaminations as it is designed with an electrochemical and fuel cell sensor. The breath analyser has printer and it provides the measurement content of alcohol after testing the drunken driver. It has a colour LCD touch screen and comes with a memory capacity to store 4,000 test results. The data from the device can be downloaded to a printer or PC.

By Mouli Mareedu

moulimareedu@gmail.com

Fire officials to act on unsafe buildings

With a Reliance Fresh outlet getting completely gutted in a major fire on Sunday, fire service officials are all set to crack the whip on high-rise buildings and for not providing basic fire safety measures. P Mohan Reddy, additional district fire service officer, Rangareddy district told Express the Reliance Fresh outlet was running business without obtaining a No Objection Certificate from the nearest fire station. "We will issue notices to the Reliance Fresh management asking why they had not obtained the NOC,'' he added. He said the supermarket had no proper measures on fire safety and parking lots. "How the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation officials issued trade permission to the outlet without the NOC from fire service officials? We will investigate the issue and submit a comprehensive report to the director-general of fire services,'' Mohan Reddy said. In areas in and around Madhapur locality, a number of multi-level commercial complexes are reportedly not maintaining proper fire safety measures. The district fire service department estimated that hundreds of business establishments are running without obtaining the NOC. "We will initiate a special drive shortly on complexes where plenty of commercial shops are located without installing basic fire safety equipments. We have also directed fire station officials to identify such violators and take necessary action," he added. He said if anyone approaches the fire services for the NOC, we can inform about installation of fire safety measures. "The latest equipments are also available with us. Sprinklers, water supply machines and fire extinguishers should be installed in all commercial establishments and our department will design proper points to install such material as per space of the outlets," Mohan Reddy said.
Some fire mishaps in city: Sept 6, 2010- A major fire broke out at Madina Hotel in the Old City. 10 shops in the area gutted in the incident. Feb 4, 2010- Two died on the spot when a major fire broke out at the Park Hospital in Somajiguda. April 12, 2010- A major fire at Xtreme Sports Bar (lounge) at Madhapur, valuable things damaged. May 9, 2010- Fire broke out at a commercial outlet in City Centre, a six-storeyed complex at Banjara Hills. 

By Mouli Mareedu
moulimareedu@gmail.com

By Mouli Mareedu

Beware of the honey trap

“In need of a friend? Contact....” -- this kind of messages or calls may sound sweet but beware of the enchanting voice at the other end. It could well be a honey trap. The next time you are flooded with calls like these offering attractive schemes, believe it, it is time to pay a visit to the Cyber Crime Police Station. The calls originate from a few websites like www.joindiva.com. According to the Cyber Crime Police, this diva is no ordinary one. It’s a “friendship club” where you can befriend like-minded or a person of your choice from a data base of 30,0000 people. The portal, hosted by a few NRIs and operated from Siliguri, offers schemes as per the age, sex, location, marital status and education. What more, it also provides a registered member with a few contacts. In short, you can “buy a friend.” Registration is valid for either six months or a year. A typical response from diva’s customer care goes somewhat like this: “As soon as you register, the very first day you will receive five phone numbers of male or female friends of your choice. You can talk to them and if you don’t find them suitable, you will receive one more number every day for six months or a year. The registration charge for six months is `1, 600 and `3, 000 for one year which you have to deposit it in our bank account (ICICI and Axis). As soon as you deposit, you will start receiving phone numbers daily either through sms or e-mail. For more details contact: 09800005060’’. Interestingly, many youngsters from the twin cities are members of the club and quite a few have been cheated. But none of them is prepared to lodge a complaint with the police. “How can I visit the police station? When I was registered as a member for six months paying `1,600, they provided me with some contacts in the city. One day, we went to a lounge at Sameerpet. After spending some time, the girl decamped with my wallet. I lost my driving licence, ATM and Debit cards,’’ recalled Santhan (name changed), an IT employee working in Gachibowli. A few months back, based on a complaint lodged by a group of victims, the Cyber Crime Police arrested one person involved in this fraud. “We have noticed a number of such incidents and they are increasing these days. Most of the employees of IT, ITES and BPO companies and persons belonging to the high society are falling victims to this fraud. We will take stringent action against cheaters under Section 66D and 66A of the IT Act if we receive complaints,’’ said U Ram Mohan Rao, Additional Superintendent of Police, Cyber Crime.

By Mouli Mareedu

moulimareedu@gmail.com