'Let us drive you home on New Year's Eve'

For Mumbaikars who would ring in the New Year at a bash out of the home this will be a rather desired convenience There will be more taxis and auto rickshaws on road compared to regular evenings December 31 being a busy evening for cabbies and auto drivers the unions will tell their members to ensure that they remain easily available to ferry commuters ldquoThe drivers would mostly park near areas where there are plenty of restaurants pubs and barsrdquo said A L Quadros president of Mumbai Taximenrsquos Union Eighty per cent of the blackandyellow taxis in the city are likely to ply on the intervening night of December 31January 1 File pic Normally only 30 per cent of the 42000 taxis ply during night but on New Yearrsquos Eve a good 80 per cent of the blackandyellow taxi fleet is likely to be in business Even auto rickshaws will be out in full strength ldquoThere will be tremendous traffic on New Yearrsquos Eve and we expect at least 70 per cent of the autos in the city to be on the road during nightrdquo said Shashank Rao from the Mumbai Auto Rickshawmenrsquos Unionu00a0There are around 104 lakh rickshaws plying in eastern and western suburbs Most of these autos will ply at Bandra Juhu Versova and other areas in western Mumbai buzzing with people Other cab fleets do not want to miss out on the chunk of fare the day would generate either ldquoWe have informed all our drivers to ply that December 31 night since it would get them business Moreover people can call up our call centres or hail an empty cab as wellrdquo said Prasenjeet Bagchi chief marketing officer TAB Cabs Many restaurants lounges and pubs with permission to sell liquor normally have tieups with cab companies or arrange for vehicles to drop patrons to their destination in a bid to check drinkdriving and possible mishaps Cops to comb streets Last night the Mumbai traffic police began its weeklong drive to crack down on drinkdriving which will last up till January 1 There would be over 2500 traffic cops in the city and its suburbs to check the offence which surges at the festive yearend ldquoWe will begin with important locations where chances of speeding are morerdquo said Deputy Commissioner of Police Suburbs P Dighavkar Mumbai Traffic Police The traffic police have already recorded nearly 15000 drinkdriving cases this year till midDecember Motorcyclists form at least 65 per cent of the total number of offenders Some of the most likely places where the drive will take place are the Eastern and Western Express Highways the Eastern Freeway Bandra Juhu Versova Borivli Gorai Churchgate Colaba and Marine Drive Peg it down The bloodalcohol content BAC limit is fixed at 30 mg per 100 ml of blood Any driver whose BAC level is found to be higher than this will be booked Party till 5 am on New Yearrsquos Eve Here is some good news for the party owls On the eve of New Year the government has allowed restaurants pubs and bars to remain open till 5 am In a recent circular issued to police stations in the city the police commissioner has asked local police to maintain strict vigil on all such installations and allow them to remain open till 5 am In return owners of hotels or restaurants have to pay Rs 250 for every hour the venue remains open after midnight which is the deadline for these establishments on regular days Drinkdriving cases in last 4 yrs 2010 16290 2011 16324 2012 14133 2013 till midDec 14436 Vehiclewise cases in 2013 Twowheelers 9371 Fourwheelers 4289u00a0