02 April,2017 10:42 AM IST | | Faisal Tandel and Santosh Wagh
Owners fear that they will have to shut shop soon, as customer count drops by half on day 1 of Supreme Court's 500m-liquor ban order
A bar on the Western Express Highway wears a barren look. Pic/Datta Kumbhar
Your search for a liquor shop on the highway has ended for good. In keeping with a Supreme Court order, all shops and bars within the radius of 500 metres from the highway stopped selling alcohol, starting yesterday. The order, as expected, has hit several shop-owners along Mumbai's highways with 80 per cent claiming that they'd have to shut business soon.
mid-day visited restaurants and liquor shops across the Western and Eastern Express highways, and Sion-Panvel stretch and found two things in common: Fewer customers and zero sign of intoxication.
What worsened the spirits of these owners, was an unexpected government ruling on March 31, demanding that they renew their bar licence immediately. Some of them paid up in the hope that it would save them from shutting shop, only to realise that nothing was going to come in the way of the apex court's order.
Gopal Bhai Shetty, bar owner
April fool banaya
Chandan Gilani, the owner of Lords Wine Shops in Mulund (E), which is located at a distance of 470m from the Eastern Express Highway, said, "A distance of 30m put an end to my business for good. I am now planning to rent a shop that won't be close to the highway."
Gopal Bhai Shetty, 64, who runs Parichay Restaurant and Bar in Vashi sector 17, had a similar grievance. He had to stop selling alcohol because his eatery was around 470m from the Sion-Panvel highway. Due to the ban, his customers have also reduced by half.
But, if that wasn't any worse, Shetty claims that on March 31, at around 4 pm, excise duty officials asked them to renew the bar licence on an urgent basis. "In excitement, I paid the amount of R5.50 lakh in cash. I also stocked liquor worth R6 lakh. But, suddenly, around 6pm, excise officials sent another order demanding that we stop selling liquor. We were shocked with the sudden change in plan. I lost lakhs of rupees due to this," said Gopal.
Dayanand Shetty (55), president of Navi Mumbai Hotel Owners Association said that on March 23, the excise commissioner had said that there would be no renewal of the licence. "And, yet, they asked us to renew the licence. We have been cheated," he said.
When contacted, an excise official, on condition of anonymity, said that the orders had come from senior authorities. "We were just following orders. We haven't been told about returning the money yet."
Deven Bharti, JCP, law and order, Mumbai Police
Staff bears the brunt
According to Dayanand, around 50 hotels on the Sion-Panvel Highway have been affected due the ban. Shashikant Shetty, who runs Nityanand Bhuvan, an orchestra restaurant and bar near Dahisar Check Naka, said the government should have rehabilitated the staff, before taking such a huge step. "They are the ones who will suffer most," said Shashikant.
Dhiren Saw, a cook from Jharkhand, who works at Gopal's Hotel Parichay fears losing his job soon. "There were hardly any customers on day one of the ban," he said.
Ram Kumar Chandrvanshi, a waiter with Bossy Orchestra Restaurant and Bar, said he barely makes a salary of R5,000 and could sustain his income from tips he received daily. "If people won't get liquor, why will they tip us," he asked.
Meanwhile, there were rumours about bars secretly selling alcohol to its regular customers. However, Deven Bharti, joint commissioner of police, law and order, Mumbai Police, said, "If any illegal activities are found outside the bar, we will definitely take action." Parambir Singh, commissioner of police, Thane said, "Our duty is to enforce the order of the Supreme Court. But, the excise department will look into the licensing."
