Hyderabad: The TS government has decided to declare the Outer Ring Road a bypass road and also de-notify all state highways passing through cities and towns.
The state government has also decided to request the Centre to de-notify National Highways that go through cities and towns in the state.
The decisions are on expected lines, after the Supreme Court ordered shifting of liquor shops and bars within 500 metres of the highways. Complying with the orders would have made a huge dent in the state’s income through the excise department.
With the deadline to comply with the Supreme Court order fast approaching, governments of both TS and AP have started looking for a way out.
TS Chief Secretary S.P. Singh on Thursday held a meeting with officials of the Excise and R&B departments and discussed shifting of bars and liquor shops within 500 metres of highways.
It was decided at the meeting to declare the ORR a bypass road which would automatically take the liquor shops and bars along the road out of the ambit of the Supreme Court order.
Similarly, state and National highways passing through cities and towns will be deemed bypass roads. Meanwhile, the officials have been discussing the opinion of attorney-general Mukul Rohatgi on the issue.
Mr Rohatgi, on the request of the Kerala government, had given his opinion that “The Supreme Court order banning liquor vends within 500 metres of state and National highways does not apply to bars and restaurants that serve alcohol”.
The officials felt that the attorney-general’s view was applicable to all states in the country. However, the officials felt that wait for the Supreme Court’s decision on the review petitions filed by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu governments on the issue was advisable.
Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh government constituted a committee on Thursday to look after shifting of bars and liquor shops as per the Supreme Court order.
AP Excise commissioner M.K. Meena, in a memo to deputy commissioners and superintendents of Excise department, said that shifting of bars and liquor shops within 500 meters of the outer edge of the national/ state highways and service lane, shall be scrutinised by the committee headed by deputy commissioner of Excise department. The convener of the committee would be the Excise superintendent.
