Gurgaon pubs may evade ban after survey
: A string of pubs and restaurants in Gurgaon’s upscale DLF CyberHub are likely to dodge a highway liquor ban because of an underpass that opened the day the Supreme Court order came into force.
City authorities started measuring the distance between the establishments and the highway on Tuesday morning, and sources said the underpass pushed the length of the route beyond the court-stipulated limit of 500 metres. “The measurement was around 1,900 meters from the highway at Cyber Hub,” said Ashwini Choudhary, director of Soi 7 Group that runs the Soi 7 Pub & Brewery. According to the SC, no shop, restaurant can sell or serve alcohol within 500 metres of any national or state highways. “We were already safe. The department has not involved any pub/bar owner during the measurement process but they have fairly done their job. There has been huge loss in sales so now we should get back to work,” added Choudhary.
A team — including officials from district administration, excise department, NHAI and PWD—startedmeasuringthedistance of the establishments at 7.30 am.“Physicalroutemeasurement of Cyber Hub was conducted on a route which is as per Huda approved master plan of the area” saidHCDahiya,deputyexciseand taxation commissioner (west). >>HIGH & DRY AT WEDDINGS,
CHANDIGARH: What does road safety has to do with the big, fat Punjabi wedding? A lot, for the recent Supreme Court order banning serving of liquor within 500 metres of highways to clamp down on drunk driving has literally left marriage palaces in Punjab high and dry.
The scale of Punjabi weddings is grand enough to require venues that resemble palaces. Located along highways on the outskirts of cities across the state, the focus at the wedding celebrations is on drinking, dining and dancing.
Marriage palace owners say bookings are drying up, affecting business at 70% such venues.
Rajeev Chhabra of AKM Resorts in Zirakpur on the Chandigarh-Patiala highway says an estimated 2,500 of the 3,500 marriage palaces in Punjab are located within 500 metres of a state or national highway. “At least
70% of marriage palaces in Punjab have been affected by the court order. Those who have wedding functions planned have put bookings at these venues on hold. We have no bookings after May,” says Chhabra.
It doesn’t help that he went in for a glitzy makeover of the venue. “Customers are making frantic enquiries at different places for arrangements. Serving liquor to guests is the major concern,” he says. Chhabra said he has a marriage in the family this weekend and they are unable to decide where to serve liquor to guests. “We may go for a separate party for our friends and relatives at a place which doesn’t have a liquor ban,” he said, adding that weddings in Punjab are incomplete without liquor.
COLLATERAL DAMAGE
Punjab additional excise and taxation commissioner Gurtej Singh says business in 27 star hotels and 269 bars and pubs across the state has suffered due to the ban on serving liquor near highways.
“We have counted 1,000 marriage palaces where business has been affected. The number of such wedding venues is rising by the day as more and more owners are getting in touch with us,” he says.
The excise department used to earn Rs 800 crore to Rs 900 crore annually from the sale of liquor in bars, hotels and marriage palaces. “The department will lose the revenue this year,” he says.
The department had sought a legal opinion from the advocate general whether to allow marriage palaces serve liquor or not, he adds.
“In the initial judgment of the SC (on December 15, 2016), the bars and hotels were not specified but a clarification was sought after the court disallowed them (bars and hotels) from serving liquor too. But still the verdict is silent on marriage palaces. The department has requested the advocate general to give his opinion,” says Gurtej.
So far, the department is not allowing the marriage palaces to serve liquor.
BUSINESS OF 70% MARRIAGE PALACES TAKES A HIT AFTER THE HIGHWAY LIQUOR BAN