More Than 85% Delhites Continue To Drink In Public Despite Govt’s Crackdown: CADD Survey

The survey revealed that 48.1 % male always drink alcohol in public place and 42.6% female respondents indulged in it occasionally. 42.1% men and 33% women admitted to drinking in cars and not being caught.

More than 85% of Delhites continued to drink in public place even after crack down by Delhi Government against public drinking, reveals a survey Community Against Drunken Driving, a prominent NGO working to end the menace of drunken driving for the past 14 years.

A Public survey was conducted between 10^th November – 10^th December 2016 to assess the impact of the new ruling by the Delhi Government on drinking in public spaces wherein heavy fine ranging from Rs.5,000/- to Rs.10,000/- to be levied along with jail term on the offenders.

The survey revealed that 48.1 % male always drink alcohol in public place and 42.6% female respondents indulged in it occasionally. 42.1% men and 33% women admitted to drinking in cars and not being caught.

According to Prince Singhal, Activist , Road safety expert and Founder CADD “ Research was conducted in about 50 prominent public places of Delhi among 5000 respondents, out of which 4000 were men and 1000 were women.

CADD’s survey last year had revealed that drunk driving has been responsible for at least 70 per cent of all fatal road accidents in the city. Delhi reports between 1,500 and 1,700 road fatalities and 6,000 to 75,500 grievous injuries in road accidents every year.

THE PURPOSE

The purpose of the survey was to conduct a reality check on the ruling by Delhi government on drinking in public and the impact it had on preventing drunk driving”

Singhal further added “We filed an RTI to know of the number of people challaned vis a vis the amount spent on publicity. The excise department responded with the number of people being prosecuted as 485 and having no information as to the amount spent on publicity. Based on this number, this entire exercise seems to be a gross misuse of public money to generate publicity when the same amount could have been directed towards developing a sustainable enforcement mechanism. There appears to be no visible quantifiable change when crores were spent on extensive publicity via hoardings, bus shelters, newspapers ads, behind buses , etc. It should also be noted that with the festive season and New Year approaching drunk driving and other alcohol related misdemeanours are bound to rise and unfortunately the government is not prepare to handle this menace”

Declaring a war on “car-o-bar”, Kejriwal government had from November 7 begun levying hefty fines and sending to jail those found drinking in public as the government went ahead to "strictly" enforce the Delhi excise act.

The fine for public drinking is Rs 5,000. But, if the offender creates nuisance then the fine will be double with three months in jail.The decision was taken at a review meeting of the excise and finance department chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia

MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SURVEY

• 48.1 % male always drink alcohol in public place and 42.6% female respondents indulged in it occasionally


• 42.1% men and 33% women admitted to drinking in carsand not being caught.


• Drinking in public place is not just a common practice among lower strata of society but also among MIG and HIG


• Only (0.04 %) 2 male respondents out of the 5000 were caught for having alcohol in publicand they were let off after paying fine.


• More that 85% continued to drink in publiceven after the ruling


• No female respondents caught for drinking in public


• None of the respondents were ever informed at the point of sale about any fine for drinking in public


• Nearly 90% of respondentsbelieved that this will have no sustained impact on public drinking and that the government has only carried out a this exercise for publicity


• Car o bar is the most popular venue of consuming alcoholas people find it safe and away from public glare. Also there are lesser chances to be caught . Car o bar was used at parking lots, street side vendors, juice shops, mall parkings etc.


• Others includes F&B outlets , parks, public events like fairs, concerts


• One of the revelations was auto drivers and commercial vehicle drivers who consumed alcohol in their vehicles

SOME CONCERNS EXPRESSED BY PUBLIC

• Sincethe government can freely sell liquor why can’t the public have it freely


• If the government wants to curb public drinking thanthey should first curb alcohol saleby selling on lesser days, reducing bar timings or prohibiting sale to underage.


• While public drinking may cause nuisance but a bigger nuisance is also caused by those drinking in bars and pubs leading to brawls , gun fights, crime against women so the government should come down heavily on bars and pubs. 

According to Singhal “To control public drinking the government should curb alcohol availability with partial prohibition curtailing availability of alcohol during certain days of the week, closure of alcohol shops on petrol pumps , increasing number of dry days, and embargo on new liquor licenses.”

WHERE WAS THE SURVEY DONE

The Survey was conducted by CADD in 50 public spaces of Delhi and included a sample size of 5000 respondents public spaces including juice shops, parking lots, road side food stalls, dhabas, outside eating joints, taxi stands, petrol pumps , local market place, business centres .

Some major areas include north and south campus, ISBT, Nizamuddin railway station, Green Park market, Vasant Kunj Market, Shahpur Jat market, Mayur Vihar Market, lado sarai, nehru place, Bhikaji cama Place, Netaji Subhash Chandra place, Ashok Vihar, Rohini, Connaught Place, Hauz Khas Village, Rajouri Garden, Khan Market, Defence Colony, Priya Cinema Complex, PVR Anupam cinema complex, Satyam Cinema Complex, Janak Puri District Centre, sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar , R. K. Puram, Punjabi Bagh main market and many others.

Cars / vehicles were used as a drinking space in places like taxi stands/ parking lots, transport areas etc.

This article has been made possible because of financial support from Independent and Public-Spirited Media Foundation.