Hyderabad: Buying liquor on highways will not be as easy as it is now if the Telangana government has its way. In tune with the SC empowered committee’s directions the transport and excise departments will not only remove the wine shops on highways but also check the sale of liquor at dhabas and other illegal selling points highways.
The SC empowered committee on road safety has given time till December 31 to either remove or shift wine shops on highways. The move is aimed at curbing drunken driving and also putting an end to the “visibility of wine shops” on highways while driving.
However these wine shops can be relocated 500 metres to 1 km away from the highway in the interior lanes of villages. It may be mentioned that a majority of wine shops on highways are located in villages on the highways or abutting dhabas or restaurants or near them.
The Union transport ministry has also written to all state governments to work out a policy to keep liquor outlets away from highways. While the excise department has already decided not to grant licence to any new wine shops on highways here after, the task on hand is to identify unauthorised liquor outlets on highways.
There are over 2,000 liquor outlets in Telangana and they are a major source of revenue for the government. The excise department generates around Rs 10,000 crore revenue per annum.
“Although it will have an impact on revenues, the excise department has made many wine shop owners to shift their outlets 500 metres away from highways at several places. But it is a long way to go before all liquor shops on highways are removed,” officials said.
"The excise and transport departments will jointly carry out inspections to identify liquor outlets, both authorised and unauthorised. Removal of wine shops from highways is not the only solution. We are planning to ensure that even dhabas and restaurants do not serve liquor to curb drunken driving," excise commissioner R.V. Chandravadan told DC.
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