The Bacchus lovers of the Uttarakhand would face problem in getting the supply of their favourite alcoholic beverages as the State Government has strictly imposed the Supreme Court (SC) ban on sale of liquor from the shops located within 500 meters of National Highways (NH) and State Highways (SH).
The State Government had extended the licenses of the liquor shops by one month and asked the license holders whose shops are falling under these criteria to relocate to other places. It is estimated that 532 shops across the State are coming under the ambit of the SC order.
This decision is bound to reduce road accidents caused by drunken driving. The official data suggests that 962 people lost their lives in road accidents in the State in 2016, while 1736 got injured.
In Dehradun alone, 50 shops located on the highways got closed. One excise official admitted that liquor vendors are facing difficulty in finding a new shop which fits the entire requirement. According to the law, the liquor shops could not be opened near school, college, crematorium and place of worship. Saturday being the first day of the SC ban, all the shops situated on highways remained closed.