Following traffic police’s relentless crackdown against drink driving that started nine years ago, the number of drivers booked for driving under the influence of alcohol has been steadily coming down, a report shows.

A report of the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division shows that over the past decade, the number of people caught for drink driving has come down by 50 percent.

“This is because more people are now aware of our zero-tolerance against drunk driving,” said Senior Superintendent of Police Bhim Prasad Dhakal, also the chief of the division.

When the division office enforced the anti-drunk-driving campaign on December 2, 2011, in the first year of the campaign, the traffic police had booked 39,667 people—39,480 males and 187 females. The division’s latest data show that in the past seven months, only 16,809 people—16,631 males and 178 females—were booked for drink driving.

"This year, we will not let the number increase to more than 20,000," said Senior Superintendent of Police Bhim Prasad Dhakal, who is also the chief of the division.

The highest number of MaPaSe case was in the fiscal year 2013-14, when 54,535 people— 54,160 males and 375 females—were booked.

Dhakal said that in the past six months, the division office had conducted traffic awareness programmes for some 47,000 drivers and riders, focusing on its anti-drink-drive.
“If you look at the last year’s data, 259 people were killed in Kathmandu Valley. And 30 percent of them had consumed alcohol. This year, 76 people have lost their lives in road accidents. Our drive has become massively successful,” he added.

Traffic police say, driving or riding under the influence of alcohol is one of the main reasons for road accidents.
In mid-December, Leela Devkota, 38, was killed on the spot when Prithvi Malla,21, who was drunk, knocked her down while she was returning from a temple in Budhanilkantha.

Every night, the division office deploys its officials in 42 spots of the Valley to check drink drivers.
Those given tickets for driving under the influence of alcohol need to pay Rs 1,000 and have to mandatorily attend a one-hour class regarding traffic rules and regulations.

Over the past nine years, the division has issued tickets to 322,023 people for drink driving, the data show.