Bacchus roams the roads of Mohali, uninhibited

MOHALI: Unhindered public drinking is taking its toll on Mohali city. Following the footsteps of their elders, now it’s turn of the youngsters to contribute to their fullest to keep the tradition of “Car-o-Bar” alive by drinking at public places, as the law enforcers prefer to sleep it out.


Notwithstanding the fact that public drinking is punishable by the law, it is a common site in the city, very often leads to nuisance like use of abusive language and open brawl.

The Section 68-1(B) of Punjab Police Act, 2007 states that a person, found intoxicated and riotous at any public place, shall be liable to imprisonment for a term, not exceeding one month or a fine of not less than Rs 1,000, or both, and Section 510 of IPC lays down that misconduct in public by a person, who, in a state of intoxication, appears in any public place, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term, which may extend to 24 hours or with fine, which may extend to Rs 10, or with both.

On a visit to various hotspots in Mohali, a TOI team discovered that people consume alcohol inside their vehicles or outside them, without any fear of law. A liquor shop located on the Kharar-Mohali highway near TDI City has set up complete sitting arrangement in the parking in front of the shop and it remains jam-packed every night, especially on weekends.

As compared to the Chandigarh, where drinking in public is almost next to impossible nowadays, in Mohali the case seems just the opposite. Kuljeet Singh Bedi, a councillor, said, “Youngsters nowadays tend to take law and order in their hands and don’t hesitate to argue with even the officials, unlike the old times.”

According to a data, there is a lot of improvement in terms of curb on drink-and-drive practice in Mohali, but on the contrary, hitting the bottle in public is the easiest thing to do here.

“One of the prime reasons is that a large number of new food outlets in the Tricity are now opening in Mohali and most of them serve food to clients in their vehicles, which tends to lure them,” he said, adding that it is quite easy as well as safe to mix the food with drinks sitting in their cars.

“People regularly drink here. Even if PCR visits here, people are least bothered. The police only alert the people with their hooter, and due to shortage of policemen, they are unable to control the public drinkers… They prefer to remain inside the PCR only,” reasoned out a shopkeeper in Phase 5, where youngsters can be seen drinking and creating a ruckus every night. And, similar is the excuse of lawmen, too.

Jasveen, a Mohali resident, said, “Most of the markets in Mohali witness the young crowd, who easily consume alcohol publicly and play havoc with their newfound freedom. Reining in such daily offenders will certainly make our city safer, especially for the womenfolk.”

When approached, Mohali Superintendent of Police Harvinder Singh Virk told TOI, “We can’t blame the police completely… Public should also know their responsibility and social values, and stop the trend of public drinking. People must go to places designated for drinking. We will form teams and brief all the SHOs as well as DSPs to take strict action against the violators.”