KOLKATA: With the New Year's eve round the corner,
cops
in Kolkata and Bidhannagar are approaching bar and pub owners in the city, asking them not to let the patrons drive after drinking and inform the local police station immediately if a drunken brawl ensues during the year-end revelries in their premises.
"We are asking managers and owners of pubs, bars and restaurants to keep a check on the patrons drinking on their premises and not to allow them to drive home by themselves. We have also asked them to help them avail app cabs or offer valet services," said a senior officer of Kolkata Police.
To keep a check on drunken brawls inside as well as outside the premises of major party zones,cops have asked the authorities to inform them the moment they sense a patron is too drunk and is being engaged in a heated conversation with a staff member or another fellow patron.
Additionally, officers of Bidhannagar Police are reaching out to organisers of multiple 31st night special party events being held in open grounds or closed premises with paid entry in areas around New Town and Rajarhat to ensure there are enough private security personnel to prevent incidents of law and order deterioration and to keep the cops in loop. "There are dedicated officers to maintain liaison with the event organisers ," said a senior officer of Bidhannagar city police. Hotel and restaurant owners said even before cops approached them, they had started sending advisories to their members to keep a check on the number of drinks a customer is having and put up posters and banners inside the premises asking them not to drink and drive.
"We have prepared posters that say drink responsibly and ask patrons not to drink and drive. We have distributed them among patrons. We understand a patron's well-being is also our responsibility and thus we have asked all members to stop a customer from driving by themselves if they have had too many drinks," said Sudesh Poddar, president of Hotel and Restaurants Association of Eastern India (HRAEI).
Cops added stress was also being laid on setting up naka posts near party zones where officers will be armed with latest baton breathalyzer machines that can test a drunk driver from 5-metre distance. The same machine can work as a traffic baton with lights.
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