The liquor vendors who got their licences in the recent allocation are selling liquor in the open as they could not get a suitable commercial space that fulfills Supreme Court guidelines of ban on sale of liquor within 500m of highways.
On the State Highway Number 1 — Rajiv Rahadhari — a liquor trader was seen selling from a tractor trailer parked under a temporary tent in the fields on the outskirts of Muqdhoompur village of Karimnagar rural excise police station limits on Wednesday. Liquor trader Malla Reddy said that following the Apex Court directives, the Prohibition and Excise Department officials allowed him to sell the liquor about 220 meters away from the highway as their village had a population below 20,000.
Permanent structure
“I secured the liquor licence through draw of lots and I paid ₹45 lakh for the two years licence fee to the department. As there is no constructed site available that is about 220m away, I am forced to sell from under the makeshift tent till a permanent structure is completed,” he said.
Many liquor traders are unable to sell the liquor as they were unable to locate commercial buildings that were located away from the highways and other prohibited areas. In the erstwhile Karimnagar district, liquor licences were given to a total of 270 shops, including over 131 shops located on the either side of state and national highways.
With the liquor licence year having started from October 1, the traders are searching for a location as per SC guidelines and some have already started selling liquor from makeshift locations.
Prohibition and Excise officials said that only 211 of the 270 liquor shops have started selling, the balance 59 shops were still searching for suitable locations.
