Last year, 13 people had lost their lives of which three died on account of their own carelessness on the road.

The traffic police will arrest the revellers under Section 185 of the Motor Vehicle Act for drunk driving which invites a punishment of six months’ imprisonment or a fine of Rs 2,000 and Section 184 for dangerous driving which invites a punishment of 6 months’ imprisonment and Rs 1,000 fine. The police, however, do not maintain any record of the offenders.

Last year, of the total 46 accidents, 15 victims were pedestrians and 18 were 2-wheeler riders. Seven were involved in what the police term ‘self-accidents’. “The self-accidents are more pitiable as people driving on empty roads lose their lives or get critically injured due to their own fault,” said Joint Commissioner S N Shrivastava.

In 2007, 17 people lost their lives on Holi. “We want to bring down the number of fatal accidents. We have already started an awareness campaign through the media and we are hopeful that heavy police presence should act as a deterrent,” said Shrivastava. Other than over 5,000 traffic police officers, the local police will also patrol.

In the past, the highest number of accidents around Holi were reported from Badarpur, Sarita Vihar, Darbi, Najafgarh and Uttam Nagar. “We will be more alert for especially these places,” Shrivastava added.

An analysis of the past accidents also reveals that the highest number accidents took place between 11 am till 3 pm when the festival is at its peak. The traffic police will be armed with 12 interceptors and 40 speed radar guns to check speeding.