Chandigarh reopening its bars and pubs on the highways last week gave respite to many liquor consumers in the tricity but the news of installing alco-meters at every bar and hotel restaurant serving alcohol have also started surfacing. The UT administration and the taxation department have collectively ordered all the bar owners across Chandigarh to install breathe analyzer within a week’s time and help in keeping a check on drink and driving case.
Breath analyzers to install at Chandigarh bars & pubs
The UT administration and the taxation department in a joint meeting held last month took the decision of installing breath analyzers across every bar and pub in the city beautiful, Chandigarh. They have guided police to use alco-meters outside the bars and pubs of Chandigarh just on the trial basis, initially. But now a full fledged order has been passed giving only seven days time to the bar and pub owners in Chandigarh otherwise strict action will be taken against them.
On the Madhya Marg and on the Himalayan Marg alone, there are over 100 bars and pubs located that opened their doors for liquor consumers last week after the ban on the sale of liquor on Chandigarh highways was lifted. All the bars across India including the hotels, restaurants and even the marriage palace falling within the vicinity of 500 meters of the national or the state highways were banned from serving or selling alcohol from April 1, 2017, onwards by the Supreme Court.
Cost & usage of breath analyzers at Chandigarh based bars
The breath analyzer or the alco-meters that will be installed at the bars and pubs of Chandigarh is ordered to be used in order to keep a check on the permissible limit of alcohol consumption by an individual. This step has been taken in the wake of curbing down the number of drink and driving cases in the city and the nearby areas.
Now the bars and pubs of Chandigarh will have the authority to say ‘no more serving of liquor’ to those who will cross the permissible limit of liquor consumption by checking it on their alco- meters. The UT administration has also guided the Chandigarh police to help the bar owners in installing and in the usage of these breath analyzers on their customers. These breath analyzers can be bought at the cost of Rs 35,000 to Rs 1 lakh based on its features. Apart from this, the UT administration has directed all the bar owners in Chandigarh to submit the compliance report by September 13 to the department.
How much liquor permitted to drink at Chandigarh bars
The UT administration has kept the permissible limit of liquor consumption (in blood) as 30mg per 100 ml, which means just a pint of beer of 330 ml or a small peg of alcohol of 30 ml will only be under the permissible limit to pass the alco-meter test.
Source: The Times of India
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