ALL FOR REACHING HOME, SAFELY
HARMAN SIDHU, THE MAN WHO GOT ALL LIQUOR SHOPS BANNED FROM NATIONAL AND STATE HIGHWAYS TALKS ABOUT HIS LONG DRIVE TO ACHIEVE THAT.
Driving post drinking, especially on the mountains, was always a road to a new high. The moment I would twist my motorcycle’s accelerator on serpentine paths, a smile would cross my lips. Perhaps to congratulate myself on how I could stretch the bike to its limits. Even if I crashed in those risky and difficult terrains, I would escape unhurt or with minor injuries.
But on October 24 in 1996 luck ran out on me. That’s when I was not driving. I was in the back seat of the car. My three friends and I were in the ‘reserved area for wild’ near Renuka Lake in Himachal Pradesh. At one of the turns, the person driving the car, swerved it hard to avoid an eroded patch of the road. He lost control and the vehicle dangled on the edge of the cliff, finally settling back on its wheel. No, he had not had a drink.
The dust settled. I remember my four friends shouting and urging me to come out. I tried, but just could not move. Then, I blacked out. Post a two-year long rehab and the realisation that I will remain confined to a wheelchair for life is how “ArriveSAFE” started in 2005. Frankly, I wanted to do something so that others could arrive home safe.
Most of us are unaware of the fact that India accounts for just one per cent of the world’s vehicular population but has 10 per cent of all fatalities, the highest in the world. As per a 2016 report by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, every year, 400 die in road mishaps on Indian roads. These figures were highlighted in every meeting I attended in swanky conference halls in nearly 10 countries including US, Russia, Turkey, Belgium, Canada, Germany and Turkey.
As per the Global Road Safety Partnership and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, driving under the influence of alcohol, finally, is responsible for 30 to 50 per cent of road deaths. During a road safety project that ArriveSAFE undertook with Jalandhar Police from 2009 to 2011, I noticed that the most visible and easily available commodity on the highways was alcohol with the vends well lit and with tempting advertisements. I started filing RTIs in April 2012 and studying the Excise Policies (that governs the sale of alcohol) in Punjab and Haryana. Startling information came from the NHAI— ‘185 liquor vends on 291 km of NH1.’ This meant one vend every 1.5 km and if
“AS PER A 2016 REPORT BY THE MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS, EVERY YEAR, 400 DIE IN ROAD MISHAPS ON INDIAN ROADS” —HARMAN SIDHU
you are driving at 90 km/hr, one would come across a liquor vend every minute. The Road Safety Council of India and Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways had been sending “advisories” to the State Governments in 2004, 2007, 2011 and 2013 to not grant permits for liquor vends on highways. The states completely ignored them.
Armed with this information, I filed a PIL in the Punjab and Haryana High Court in December, 2012. Within days, ‘lucrative offers’ followed by threats started coming. Well, the threats certainly strengthened my resolve to carry on with the fight. On March 18, 2014, the bench headed by the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered that liquor vends should neither be visible nor accessible from the highways (both state and national) and in service lanes. Within a week, both states of Punjab and Haryana moved to the Supreme Court seeking a ‘relief’ that they may be allowed to operate on state highways. The final order of the High Court resulted in ArriveSAFE’s litigation expedition. As many as 12 more cases were filed during 2014 to 2016 in the Supreme Court and High Courts. The bench headed by the CJI laid the matter to rest on December 15, 2016 in a historic order. The battle is not over yet; the next challenge is to ensure compliance. As per our experience, the liquor traders in connivance with state officials would do everything possible to stay close to the highways. As told to Sukant Deepak