Uttarakhand cabinet denotifies 64 state highways as district roads

Uttarakhand cabinet chaired by chief minister TS Rawat on Friday gave nod for rebranding 64 state highways as district roads, chief secretary S Ramaswamy informed.

The move will benefit around 150 liquor shops that were on the verge of closure following Supreme Court order mandating the closure of shops falling in 500 meters along national and state highways.

Out of 526 liquor shops in the state, 403 were directly affected by the court order.

The government was contemplating ways to circumvent the court order.

As per official sources, the cabinet took a cue from Uttar Pradesh, which has de-notified several state highways as district roads.

Excise contributes around ₹2,000 crores in state total revenue which is to the tune of ₹ 30,000 crores.

The cabinet also decided to continue the former Congress government’s decision for a waiver on stamp duty for the next five years for state farmers.

Various states have been resorting to rename state highways as urban roads and district roads since the Supreme Court judgement that liquor shops shall not ply within 500 metres of national highways (or 220 metres in the case of places with population below 20,000).

Moreover, moves to shift shops to other locations to comply with the order have sparked protests from people all over the country, especially in Bharatiya Janata Party -ruled states such as Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.