Public nuisance, violation of rules now on Sisodia's radar

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday announced a three-fold action plan for stringent crackdown on illegal consumption of liquor in the open in violation of the Delhi Excise Act.

Following a high level meeting of the Excise Department chaired by the Deputy Chief Minister, special teams of Excise officials have been formed for this action plan.

"Public nuisance, violation of rules will be under the radar of these teams which have been asked to immediately start these inspections.

They will also inspect shops in the city to ensure whether terms and conditions of license are being followed," said Manish Sisodia who also holds charge of the Excise Department.

"We will also inspect if these shops have followed last year's order of installing CCTV cameras in their premises. Checks will be conducted to examine if these CCTV cameras are functioning properly or not," he added.

Besides these steps, the Delhi Government intends to come down heavily on illegal businesses flourishing around these vends.

"The ambience around the shops will also be inspected. Therefore our teams will ensure CCTV cameras are also installed outside the shops for foolproof monitoring," Sisodia said.

After Diwali, a special awareness drive will be started to make people aware of the dangers of illegally drinking in public, which not merely a criminal offence, but a social menace too.

Following the awareness drive, post November 7, anyone caught drinking publicly will have to pay a fine of Rs 5,000 and anyone creating nuisance in public will be fined Rs 10,000 and face arrest.

Special effort will also be made to sensitize people about being respectful to women and society, at large and not indulge in these activities.