The circular from Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways earlier this year to State governments to close down liquor shops on national highways is not exactly sweet news for the residents of localities in and around Jailania Mosque in Subramaniapuram.
The purpose of the circular was to bring down accidents caused by drunken driving. And recently, responding to a public interest writ petition, the Madras High Court ordered the shifting of all TASMAC retail outlets by this month-end. Relocation of the TASMAC outlet from the Pudukottai Main Road to the vicinity of the mosque will ruin peace in the locality, according to the residents, who presented a petition to the District Collector Jayashree Muralidharan on Monday. The petitioners feared that the residents of the localities surrounding the mosque who have been living in harmony for several decades now will be subjected to mental agony by drunkards if the TASMAC outlet is shifted closer to their place of stay, ironically, adjacent to a dispensary. Safety of women, children and elders will be at stake, the petitioners apprehended.