With liquor ban, now all holds ‘bar’red

With the recent ban on all liquor vendors within an enclosure of 500 metres of state and national highways, the business world has taken a serious hit. The verdict of the apex court may prove to be one of the costliest as business worth Rs. 50000 Cr. is estimated to be lost due to it. The tourism industry is going to be the biggest victim to the ban. Not only does the ban involve a direct loss to the vendors but also proves can be one move that will render more than 1 million people as unemployed. 

The decision comes in the wake of taking stringent measures to curb drunken driving menace on roads. However, this does not come easy and not without consequences at the least. The most effected are the states that rely heavily on tourism like Himachal and Goa. 

Chandigarh, which is set to bear a loss of more than 5000 jobs as a result of this notification has another problem to face. The city which is one of the first planned cities in India has linked its inner city roads to highways a long time back notifying all of them as interstate highways as it is connected to three states on its vicinity. 

This move has seriously impacted on the industry which not only includes the licensed liquor vendors but also a long list of microbreweries, restaurants, bars and every hotel in Chandigarh that served liquor and is situated in the prime areas near the highways. Many of the bars have already shifted base to the nearby malls or to another location but the bigger hotels stand transfixed to find a solution and a entice customers to their establishments.

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