Eatery bodies step up drink-drive campaign

Kolkata: Revellers will have to count their pegs while they let their hair down across Kolkata's restobars. Led by National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI) and Hotel and Restaurants Association of Eastern India (HRAEI), restobars have stepped up a campaign against drink-driving. Both have instructed member-restaurants to refuse drinks to those who seem inebriated and to record and maintain CCTV footage of the bars. Other than online posters, restaurants are also offering services of drivers and providing assistance to call app cabs for those crossing the prescribed alcohol limit to take the wheel.An email to members on Monday by HRAEI said each restaurant should display ‘Drink Responsibly' and ‘Don't Drink & Drive' stickers. It also advised members to arrange drivers for inebriated customers and ensure they don't take the wheel, said HRAEI president Sudesh Poddar. Chapter 2 co-founder and owner Shiladitya Chaudhury said, "We started our campaign against drink-driving on Dec 10 and will run it till Jan 15." ‘Sip Smart' says the poster circulated by NRAI that flagged off a drive with Kolkata Police in Oct. "We have trained our staff to screen and handle inebriated customers," said NRAI Kolkata chapter secretary Anirban Sengupta, who also owns Whats'Up Café.
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