The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Liquor haven Mahe finds bylane to apex court highway restriction
THE COASTAL town of Mahe in Puducherry is not ready yet to lose its spirit — whether in the bottle or in the mind.
With 62 liquor outlets and bars dotting a 9 sqkm stretch, Mahe has the highest density of liquor vends in the country. It is also bordered on three sides by Kerala’s Kannur and Kozhikode districts.
Yes, Mahe is where Malayalis from the two districts thirsting for a sundowner go.
The Supreme Court order stipulatingnoliquorvendswithin 500 metres of a highway could hit Mahe’s liquor shops that dot the sides of National Highway 17.
A day after the order, 32 liquor outletsalonga1-kmstretchofthe national highway were closed. Thenarrowhighway,otherwisea show of wobbly legs, was desertedsaturday.severalliquorshops hadremovedtheirdisplayboards.
But scratch the surface and it is clear Mahe won’t give up its peg so soon.
About 4 km away from the highway, another 30 bars are doing brisk business in the safe zone in the Panthakkal, Koppalam areas, also in Mahe.
Mahe Liquor Dealers Association president Arun Sebastian said: “The SC decision was unexpected. Dealers thought the court would grant exemption or give more time to shift the shops away from highways.’’
However, the dealers said they were planning to relocate all the closed outlets to pocket roads along the highway. Of the 32 closed ones, 15 would spring up on other roads in a few days, keeping in mind the 500-metre stipulation.
“It would be foolish to think Mahe would say goodbye to ‘Cheers’,” said resident P Soman.
Hundreds of tipplers from neighbouring Kozhikode, about 62km away, and Kannur, 30km from Mahe, make the frequent pilgrimage by train or bus to cash in on a price advantage. As there is lower sales tax on liquor in Mahe, traders can sell any liquor brand at nearly half the price of the same bottle in Kerala. On the sidelines of counter sales also thrives a trade of smuggling liquor via sea, road and rail.
Tipplers are the least bothered. “The relocation from the highway will not deter me from coming to Mahe for my daily peg. It is only a matter of getting off at a different bus stop in Mahe town to buy the liquor,’’ said K M Baby, who came from Nadapuram in Kerala, 18 km from Mahe.
T Ashok Kumar, the legal adviserofmaheliquordealers,said: “The liquor business contributes to 40 per cent of Mahe’s revenue. If this business is ruined it would affect the financial health of Mahe.”
As most of the liquor is sold without any sales bill, no one knows the volume of the business in the smallest district of the country. Kumar said the annual sales could be to the tune of Rs 250 crore.
The closure of bars in Kerala in 2015 contributed to a boost in the liquor business in Mahe. Last year, it grew by 30 per cent.
Mahe legislator Dr V Ramachandran said what mattered for Mahe was a peaceful life, not income from liquor. “The government can find other sources of income. Most people welcome the decision to close down liquor outlets along the highway. Our roads would be safe now. But, we are equally apprehensive about the move of the dealers to shift to residential areas in the district.’’