Out of total 526 liquor shops located across the state, 80 per cent of them now are closed as they are situated on the outer edges of the National and State Highways as per the ruling of the Supreme Court. In Dehradun district, the scenario is the same with 45 out of 72 booze shops being closed due to same reason, said an excise department official. Besides, some shops which were shifted at other places were shut down following stirs of various organisations.
In the aftermath of the Supreme Court order to shut down liquor vends located within a radius of 500 metres of National and State Highways to stop accidents due to drunk driving, the excise department officers in the State have been facing difficulties to find new places for their relocation as per the convenience of the liquor traders and the common people.
The owners of the hotels, bars, pubs and restaurants are also worried as the ruling banning liquor vends along highways are also applicable to them.
Things are proving all the more difficult with the women activists spearheading movements against liquor vends opening in their localities. In Dehradun and other places of the State, women activists have been spearheading stirs against setting up of liquor shops in the crowded areas. On Thursday too, such stirs were held, compounding things for the excise department, groping for places for their relocation.
The department officials say that they are now trying to relocate the liquor shops at other places in tune with the court’s ruling. However, the administration shutting down such relocated shops following movements staged by the women organisations is adding to their relocation woes, they say.
A senior excise department official said on condition of anonymity that they have been facing difficulties to find new places for the displaced liquor traders to help them resume their trade due to the stir by the women groups and also due the unsuitability of the places being proposed for them from the trading point of view.
In Dehradun, out of 72 liquor shops- 39 Indian Made Foreign liquor (IMFl) and 31 country-made liquor (CMl) and two beer shops, 45 were located along the National and state highways. Presently, around 27 shops are open, say the district excise department official.
Supreme Court’s order while banning sale and consumption of liquor along the National as well as the state highways made it clear that licences of the existing shops on the prohibited locations will not be renewed after March 31. The Apex Court gave the ruling while hearing a PIl, alleging that nearly 1.42 lakh people die per year in road mishaps with drunk driving being a major contributor of the deaths.