Bevco outlets had come down from 17 to 13
Anti-liquor activists stage a sit-in in front of the Bevco outlet at Vaikkom Muhammed Basheer Road in Kozhikode on Wednesday. (Photo: DC)
Kozhikode: While the Beverages Corporation (Bevco) outlets in the city have invited the wrath of local residents who have organized a series of agitations demanding their closure, social scientists and excise officials say that the sale of illicit liquor has increased in the district.
In the urban and semi-urban areas, the availability of liquor has increased manifold with ‘walking bars’ (men on foot selling liquor), ‘running bars’ (illicit sellers in vehicles) and ‘homely bars’ (houses serving liquor) selling it.
The number of Bevco outlets had come down from 17 last year to 13 this year, according to Bevco data. Two beverages outlets, one at Vaikkom Muhammed Basheer Road and the other at Kottooli, are facing stiff resistance from anti-liquor activists.
The beverages outlets at Thamarasssery and Mukkam in the rural and Koya Road and Kallai in the city were closed down earlier while that on YMCA Cross Road was shifted due to protest. The outlets on Kallai Road were closed earlier.
Excise officials are worried over the increasing presence of hooch in the agrarian regions of the district. Excise deputy commissioner P.K. Suresh told Deccan Chronicle that there was a steady increase in the quantity of illicit liquor seized from Thamarassery and Koyilandi regions. In 2013 -2014 the illicit liquor seized was around 1000 litres per month which has increased tenfold (around 10,000 litres) now, he added.
“Most of the agrarian villages were almost free from illicit liquor due to the presence of beverages corporation outlets earlier, but all of them are again under the grip of hooch mafia elements”, Mr Suresh said.
Moreover, 22 bars in the district were closed down as part of the state policy on reducing the availability of liquor, and four of them were in the city.
Tipplers pointed out that the absence of Bevco outlets between Kunnamangalam and Vythiri in Wayanad has resulted in the increase in hooch dens at many places along the highway.
Social scientist Vinod Krishnan told DC that earlier it was tough for him to get a bottle of liquor at his home near Vellimadukunnu. “Now it is easy for people like me as with a call, a guy would step in with the liquor for which you have to pay just Rs 30 more than the Bevco price. So it is economical too, he said, adding that the Bevco liquor was also available in many of the secret homely bars.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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