As many as 188 liquor shops with FL 1 and FL 2 licence in the Union Territory will be shut down, in line with the Supreme Court’s direction to close all liquor shops located within a distance of 500 metres from national highways before April 1, 2017.
The court had ordered all the States and Union Territories to “strictly enforce the directions and gave the Chief Secretaries and the State police chiefs a month’s time to chalk out a plan for enforcement of the judgment.
According to a top Excise Department official, “There are around 530 liquor shops in the Union Territory. Of them, around 188 liquor shops with FL 1 licence (without permission to serve liquor for consumption on the premises) and FL 2 licence for tourism category (hotels and restaurants), including 105 in Puducherry, 43 in Karaikal, 34 in Mahe and 6 in Yanam regions, are located in the vicinity of national highways. A majority of the shops are located on Cuddalore Road, Villupuram Road, Tindivanam Road and the East Coast Road. Licences of these shops will not be renewed after March 2017.”
Excise Department is gathering information on the shops located on the State highways, the official said. The department collects revenue of Rs. 105 crore from these 188 shops annually. However, there will not be any fall in revenue as the licence of all liquor shops are renewed in February annually.
