Bhubaneswar: The grace period will be over soon. Come Dec 1, the stricter Motor Vehicle Act (MVA) will be implemented in Odisha.
As drunk driving is a lead cause of road accidents in the State, cops will keep an eye on the tipsy drivers on the state roads. It needs mentioning that under the new MVA norms drunk driving will attract a hefty penalty of ten times.
The new MVA norms came into force in the country, including Odisha, from September 1 this year. However, following widespread protests owing to sudden implementation, CM Naveen Patnaik has directed to postpone the implementation of new MVA till November 30.
As per a reply in State Assembly, post the new MVA implementation, a 16 per cent drop in road mishaps have been recorded in Odisha.
"Accident cases have dropped by nearly 16% in Odisha after enforcement of the new MV Act. Our main focus is to check drunken driving as on an average, 100-150 people are getting arrested in different districts every day for driving vehicle in an inebriated state," said interim DGP Satyajit Mohanty on the sidelines of an event today at Unit-6 Govt High School in Bhubaneswar.