Kozhikode: The latest order of the Supreme Court to ban all liquor shops within 500 metres of National and State Highways will affect at least 18 beer and wine parlours in Kozhikode district. Nine liquor outlets run by the Kerala State Beverages Corporation (KSBC) may also face the heat with the strict implementation of the order from the next fiscal.
A senior officer attached to the Excise Department told The Hindu here on Saturday that the department has approached the Public Works Department (PWD) to accurately identify the National and State Highway stretches with its numbers in the district and to submit a report to avoid further chances of unwanted litigation in the process of implementation. “On receiving the final report from the PWD, we will go ahead with the required field action,” said the official.
In Kozhikode district, there are 35 beer and wine parlours. The KSBC has 17 outlets in various locations. Though the government-run sales outlets can be easily shifted to other locations to manage the situation, it will not be a feasible option for the beer and wine parlour owners as they will have to overcome a number of department-level formalities to achieve it.
“Making an alternative arrangement to face the closure comes as a difficult task for most of the beer and wine parlours as they will have to first find out a suitable spot that meets all the criteria fixed by the Excise Department. They will be compelled to maintain the mandatory distance from places of worship, schools and other such institutions, besides winning the sanction of the local bodies concerned,” said excise officials. Naturally, it would not be a cakewalk in the case of the majority in the industry, they pointed out.
On receiving the PWD’s detailed report, the Excise Department will move to the next step to measure the distance of the already identified liquor outlets and beer parlours from the roads. Closure notices will be served on all units that come within 500 metres of the highways. The officials said 34 liquor outlets in Mahe, one of the four districts of the Union Territory of Puducherry that shares boarders with Kozhikode, also would face the challenge with the strict implementation of the Supreme Court order.
