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Pubs, clubs and bars near highways go high and dry
Thousands of watering holes, iconic clubs and swanky pubs went high and dry as authorities went full steam to enforce a Supreme Court order banning liquor sale along highways while states gauged revenue losses.
By
migrator
migrator
New Delhi
In Delhi, 100 restaurants, liquor vends and bars, including those in five star hotels, along the six national highways passing through the state stopped serving alcohol.
In neighbouring Noida, the number of vends no longer serving drinks was 42 while out of total 292 bars in Gurugram, the Supreme Court order would impact 106, officials said.
In Maharashtra, the liquor ban on highways has affected at least 1,000 star hotels, the Indian Hotel And Restaurant Association (AHAR) president Adarsh Shetty said. These include the VIP Lounge in the city’s domestic airport, he claimed.
Maharashtra government expects it would lose an annual Rs 7,000 crore, because of the ban. The state’s Excise Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule has said that alternative ways to increase the revenue would be explored.
In Kerala, one of the highest liquor consuming states, 1,956 liquor bars and toddy shops have been affected. Kerala is looking at revenue losses as well as the tourism industry being affected. In Chennai, over 35 star category hotels serving liquor in and around the city and around 250 elsewhere in Tamil Nadu would be affected, it is estimated.
Business has taken a blow in Mahe enclave in Puducherry where liquor is cheaper than Kerala attracting tipplers from neighbouring districts. At least 32 shops come within the 500 meters range in in Mahe.
“The Supreme Court order would impact about 60 to 70 per cent liquor licences issued in the state,” the Association’s General Secretary Honnagiri Gowda said.
In Goa, some 30 per cent of liquor outlets have shut down following the Supreme Court order. Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar yesterday met representatives of liquor traders to look at their issues. The Supreme Court has in an order said that Liquor vends within 500 metres of national and state highways will have to shut down from April 1.
NOT A DROP TO DRINK
- The court has given some exemptions to Sikkim, Meghalaya and Himachal Pradesh.
- In West Bengal, the police and excise were keeping a vigil on both the national and state highways so that the order was strictly followed.
- In Rajasthan, out of the total 7760 liquor shops in the state, 2800 fell within the 500 meter radius from highways.
- Haryana government officials expect about 200 bars will be closed down while the Punjab officials say they are to work out the exact number.
- In Chandigarh, about 90 bars will be affected because of the SC order.
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