Wine shops are despised not only for selling liquor that often leads to road accidents, but also for adding to motorists’ woes by bringing traffic to a halt on quite a few stretches in the city.
As dusk nears, the stretches where wine shops are located start teeming with buyers. Their vehicles parked on roads and sellers of various food items that go with the liquor block the traffic flow, subjecting commuters to severe road stress.
The road from Nagole to Kothapet is a case in point, where heavy traffic jams are a daily affair during peak hours. Throngs at wine shops dotting the stretch only worsen the situation. “Despite the recent streamlining, the traffic still goes haywire, especially during evening hours.
Wine shops on the road add to the pressure as they lack parking space. All the vehicles are parked on the road, leading to narrowing of the space,” says Praveen Kumar, a retail shop owner near the crossroads where the road takes a deviation towards Maruthi Nagar.
The wine shop nearby provides a permit room, and yet, the customers spill onto the road, in addition to parked vehicles, he says.
The road being a link to metro rail stations both at Nagole and Chaitanyapuri, vehicular traffic to and from the stations has multiplied in the recent times. “A proposal to widen the road is pending, even after acquiring a few properties, as the Strategic Road Development Plan work near L.B. Nagar has assumed priority,” informs GHMC officials.
Many other shops do not provide the permit rooms, causing tipsy customers to occupy the road.
“The service road near Chaitanyapuri metro station is practically unusable by commuters during evening hours. While the wine shops on the stretch experience heavy crowds, food sellers eager to make a quick buck occupy the remaining road, leaving no space either to vehicles or pedestrians,” complains N. Sudha Rani, who commutes by Metro Rail.
Wine shops in Greenlands, Film Nagar, Lakdi-ka-pul, Madhapur and Banjara Hills main road have also been reported to cause traffic hurdles galore.
“The road from Banjara Hills towards Masab Tank experiences severe traffic chaos during the evening, owing to the presence of a wine shop there. People arrive in SUVs to purchase liquor, parking them right on the road,” says Mohammed Safiuddin, a commuter.
Many have complained to the police on social media platforms about this, but those are merely forwarded to the Excise department.
