Kolkata: In an effort to curb drunk driving ahead of the upcoming festive season, both the Bengal Police and the Kolkata Police are preparing to intensify checks against drunk driving.
The two law enforcement agencies are launching major procurement drives to ensure that multiple field teams can conduct simultaneous breathalyser tests. The Bengal Police alone plans to procure 8,000 breathalysers, and Bhabani Bhawan has sent a proposal to the state govt.
The expansion is seen as a vital intervention for the Bengal Police, which is currently facing a severe equipment shortage. Across the state’s vast rural and semi-urban areas, fewer than 500 functioning breathalysers are available. This shortage has severely restricted local police teams, leaving high-risk and accident-prone districts such as Nadia and Murshidabad without the necessary equipment to conduct routine nightly checks.
At the same time, the Kolkata Police is shifting its focus toward high-tech precision and legal transparency at all checkpoints. Lalbazar has already floated a tender worth Rs 22.3 lakh to procure 50 advanced contactless breath analyzers. The equipment is expected to arrive before the Durga Puja rush.
With the increased inventory, the city police aims to ensure that each traffic guard has four operational devices, allowing them to double their active nightly checkpoints from two to four. The new hand-held devices will also function as illuminated traffic batons and will be equipped with high-precision fuel cell sensors. They will allow officers to record readings within five seconds without requiring motorists to blow into a tube.
To ensure transparency and generate strong evidence for court trials, the Kolkata Police has mandated that all new devices come with integrated cameras and printers to record every interaction.
Senior officials from both the state and city police confirmed that joint teams will continue to set up night checkpoints even during bad weather.