MUMBAI: Drunk driving cases in Mumbai were up 71% this New Year’s Eve from the previous December 31. Nearly 780 cases of drunk driving were recorded between Tuesday night and early on Wednesday, 35% of the offenders being motorcyclists. By comparison, last New Year’s Eve, a total of 455 cases were recorded in the city.A higher number of motorists from Navi Mumbai, too, were caught drunk driving, though their numbers were much lower than Mumbai’s. Nearly 390 motorists were booked for drunk driving on New Year's Eve —up 9% from the previous year. Palghar motorists were the worst; 163 cases were recorded on New Year's Eve, more than double the figure in the previous year. Thane motorists, though, appeared to have sobered up with drunk driving cases down 19% to 1,673 from 2,071.Overall, 3,047 cases of drunk driving were recorded in Mumbai Metropolitan Region—a minor variation from the previous year.“We had made it clear that anti-drunk driving checks would be strict in Mumbai. At certain locations, nakabandis for drunk driving were started as early as 3pm on Tuesday. In most parts of the city, checks began by 9pm and concluded at 6am on Wednesday,” said Madhukar Pandey, joint commissioner, traffic. “Not a single accident was reported,” he added.More than 2,400 traffic policemen were out on the streets across 182 locations in Mumbai. They were armed with 238 breathalyzers and 100 body cameras. The highest number of drunk driving cases at 58 were recorded by Dahisar Chowky. The fewest cases at eight were recorded by the Worli Chowky. Dahisar Chowky also intercepted the highest number of drunk two-wheeler riders at 50 cases.Mumbai traffic police also recorded 601 cases of signal jumping, 258 cases of triple seat and 241 of speeding.In Navi Mumbai, the increase in cases was attributed to more policemen being deployed. “A majority of offenders were motorcyclists aged between 25 to 35 years. Despite Kharghar being a no-liquor zone with no wine shops or permit rooms, we still caught 25 people for drunk driving there. The reason could be tipplers consuming liquor at bars in other areas and returning home to Kharghar,” said Navi Mumbai ACP (traffic) Rajendra Chavan. Kalamboli traffic unit recorded highest number of cases in Navi Mumbai.In Thane, traffic police also booked 188 co-passengers for knowingly travelling in a vehicle steered by a drunk driver.“Thane has shown a dip in drunk driving on New Year's Eve because we had conducted consistant drives two days prior to New Year’s Eve. More than 500 traffic police personnel from 18 units fanned across Thane and were assisted by mobile units in intercepting offenders,” said inspector Mahesh Patil.