Six persons were killed in road accidents here on the day of Holi, the lowest fatality figure in the capital in 12 years for the festive day which saw over 8,500 people being challaned for traffic violations, including 961 for drunken driving.
Of the six deaths, four were due to motorcycles slipping or hitting a central verge, a tree or a pole on Thursday, police said on Friday.
Earlier in the day, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Satyendra Garg, said on social networking site Facebook that seven people were killed during Holi.
However, later in the day he issued a statement saying six persons were killed in accidents. A total of 8,526 prosecutions were done by Traffic Police yesterday which included 961 for drunken driving, 865 for triple riding, 3,381 for not wearing helmet by drivers and pillion riders and 378 for not using seat belt amongst others.
"Delhi Traffic Police had initiated its drunken driving intensive campaign from 1st March, 2012. In eight days, a total 1,991 prosecutions were done for drunken driving. Action against drunken driving included action against drivers of 384 cars and 1,009 two wheelers in 8 days."
"We will continue our efforts to make the city safe by continuous action against drunken driving and violations by commercial vehicles," Garg said.
In the past 12 years, a total of 178 people were killed in road accidents on the day of Holi in Delhi.
While 10 persons were killed in 2000, the figure rose to 19 in 2001 but came down 11 in 2002 and 10 in 2003.
In 2004, it rose to 16 only to come down the next year. The year 2006 saw the highest fatalities at 22 while in 2007 and 2009 the figure was 17 each. In 2008, it was 13 while it was 15 in 2010 and 13 last year.
Police had made elaborate traffic arrangements to ensure safety of motorists on roads and check incidents of drunken driving, over-speeding, dangerous driving, triple riding, minor driving, driving and riding without helmet and other traffic offences.
Special checking teams with alcometers were deployed at major intersections to detect and prosecute violations. Last year on the day of Holi, 7,957 people were prosecuted for various traffic offences.
200 Traffic Police special checking teams were spread all over Delhi to check drunken driving.
Last year, a total of 18,073 motorists were prosecuted for drunken driving of which 2,960 were given jail terms and 2,212 driving licenses were suspended. In the run-up to Holi, Traffic Police had conducted a special drive against drunken driving and had caught 775 drunk drivers in the past six days.
Last year, a total of 7,956 people, including 624 for drunken driving, 815 for triple riding and 2686 for riding motorcycle without helmet, were challaned for various violations forcing them to shell out Rs 7.88 lakh as fine. In 2010, 5,300 people were challaned.