“To avert road accidents due to overcrowded vehicles, single driver throughout a long journey and driving under the influence of alcohol, we have begun the implementation of a strategic plan for the festive season,” DIG Keshav Adhikari, Chief of Metropolitan Police Traffic Division (MPTD), said on Thursday. [break]
As a large number of people across the country travel to reunite with their families for Dashain, the festive season see a rise in the number of accidents resulting in deaths and physically disability.
And fatalities are highest among the youth aged 18 to 40, and more women die in road accidents, according to the traffic police.
“As over speeding and drunken driving were the main causes of accidents across the country during the festive seasons, we have set up several check posts along the highways that are connected to capital city,” DIG Adhikari said.
“We will use breathalyzer to ensure that no one driving out of Kathmandu are drunken,” he informed. “The drunken drivers will be punished as per the law of the land.”
He further said that all the four exit points of the capital valley will be strictly monitored round the clock during the festive season, and if any vehicle is found overcrowded, it will be stopped there and then.
The traffic police also stated that two drivers are compulsory for a long route.
The Department of Transportation Management will be monitoring the vehicles on the long routes with the support of the Nepal Police, he added.
According to MPTD, transport entrepreneurs have planned 2,700 vehicles per day from the capital during the peak traffic week in the run up to the festival, and 3,000 vehicles per day after Dashain.
More than 5,00,000 tickets have been sold for Dashain, MPTD added.
In the past few days, MPTD has also taken action against black marketers of bus ticket, traffic rules violators, tickets sellers who sold tickets without seat number, vehicle number and bus fare, and those who sold a seat to more than one commuter.
It has also stepped up action against drunken driving over the past few days.
“We also need active support of the passengers in order to make these campaigns more effective,” DIG Adhikari said.
MPTD also unveiled three-month progress report that show that action against traffic rules violators increased by 17 percent in the capital.
Action against drunken driving alone rose by 58.71 percent, which resulted in collection of Rs 11 million in penalty.
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