Members of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Monday petitioned the district administration to ask the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (Tasmac) officials here to not open a new liquor outlet on Gandhipuram Third Street Extension. The party said that they were taking up the matter based on representations from the residents of the area. The women had petitioned the administration in this regard on July 22.
There were two liquor outlets within 200m on the Gandhipuram Second Street. There was another outlet on the Third Street corner and this shop was hardly 100m away from one of the shops on the Second Street. There was another outlet on the Fourth Street. There were two outlets — one on Fourth Street Extension and another on Fifth Street. In short, there were five shops within a 500m radius in the area.
If the Corporation were to establish the shop on the Third Street Extension, it would fall within 100m of a mosque and church there. Plus, the area was thickly populated. With the establishment of a sixth outlet there, the place would turn a haven for tipplers. The administration should not go with a few who wanted to increase their profits by running bars.
The residents of Bharathiar Road, Pappanaickenpalayam, too petitioned the district administration to register their protest against the move to set up a liquor outlet in the area. The residents said that at the place where the Tasmac administration planned to set up a new shop there were close to 1,000 Dalit families. There was a Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department-managed temple within 40 feet and there was a public convenience facility very close to the place proposed for the shop.
