Hyderabad: The video of a drunk man in a Metro Rail train which went viral on Friday has put Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (MHRL) officials in a dilemma over public safety. Due to stringent drunk driving checks in the city, inebriated persons have been taking the metro, an official said.
However, Sunday's incident, which came to light the next Friday, raised serious concerns over public safety since the drunk reportedly indulged in verbal abuse in presence of women in the coach and danced obscenely to a folk song.
HMRL authorities said that they would launch a special application within 10 days to register public nuisance of any sort and ensure that the person will be caught in the metro station.
HMRL managing director N.V.S. Reddy said the incident happened on September 8 and the person seems not that drunk but more pretending to be drunk to seek attention. He said any number of persons in an inebriated condition were prevented by our security from boarding the train. He said that the drunken man stood firmly, took a video of himself and by the time some passengers complained at the next station, he got down and slipped away.
“In fact I get a lot of requests and representations to be a bit liberal and allow passengers who have consumed limited amounts of alcohol to travel by metro as drunk driving is not allowed by police in Hyderabad city. The other day I got an NRI group calling on me with a similar request as world over this is allowed as long as they do not create a nuisance,” Mr Reddy said.
He said that the HMRL would come out with a special application to register such grievances and address them immediately within 10 days. However, he said that HMRL would create a Whatsapp facility soon for commuters to make instant complaints so that such persons can be immediately caught and detained.
