Virudhunagar
Residents of V.V.R. Colony and Bharati Nagar near Allampatti are up in arms against the attempt to locate a new TASMAC liquor retail shop along with a bar amidst residential area.
A section of the residents on Monday gave a petition to Collector A. Sivagnanam seeking to prevent setting up of the TASMAC shop in their locality for the second consecutive week.
After a request made to the Minister for Dairy Development, K.T. Rajenthra Bhalaji, to shift a TASMAC shop near the Kamaraj statue, he ordered its immediate removal a few weeks back. However, officials identified a house in the V.V.R. Colony and Bharati Nagar junction.
In a petition, P. Revathi, one of the residents of V.V.R. Colony, said that the new wine shop at the proposed location will cause a lot of hardship to women, especially college students, who have to use the road.
P. Muniyandi, a functionary of the Tamil Puligal Katchi, said that residents of the area had staged a protest when they smelt the proposal to set up TASMAC liquor shop in their area a couple of weeks back.
“We also gave a petition to the Collector seeking to stop the attempt to open the liquor shop in our area. The officials also promised to look into it,” he added.
However, on Saturday (June 8) some men brought furniture and stove meant for the bar attached with the wine shop and stocked them inside the building proposed for the wine shop.
However, a scores of residents gathered outside the shop and forced the men to remove all the furniture. The residents fear that the shop will jeopardise the safety of the women, especially young girls.
“We fear that the drunk people from the bar will cause inconvenience to the women. Not only the girls use the road to go to the college, but also the women use it to reach the ration shop. The drunkards will pose danger to their safety,” Mr. Muniyandi, said.
