Happy hours get shorter in this tourist state

new delhi — In 1968, a bunch of Bohemian tourists, the Beatles, visited Rishikesh, a Hindu pilgrim spot, on the banks of the Ganga. This was when Rishikesh was a part of Uttar Pradesh.

In November 2000, when Uttarakhand was formed, Rishikesh became a part of the new, tourismdriven state, and, soon, an alcoholfree town. But dope was reportedly widely available then, and now.

Now the whole state is facing the prospect of a partial alcohol ban. And on Tuesday, only the tourists seem to stand between the locals and the dwindling happy hours.

The BJP chief minister of the state, Trivendra Singh Rawat, said, “Uttarakhand will go partially dry,” with the government imposing a time limit on the sale of liquor, which fetches around Rs20 billion a year as excise duty.

The new rule allows for liquor sales from 3pm to 6pm. In other words, the Happy Hours just got shorter. It is not clear why this particular period of time is more ethical than the rest of the day or night. The chief minister only said, “liquor traders won’t be allowed to do business for 14-15 hours a day as they used to do”. He also said, the Excise Act would be amended to render illicit liquor trade severely punishable.

When asked why this sudden puritanical rush of blood, a spokesman for the government said, they were concerned for people’s health. “Alcohol consumption is ruining families.” Generally, the move is in keeping with the moral policing popular in Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere in India, critics said.

Rawat was quick to explain that he was not proposing a blanket ban on alcohol. “A total ban on liquor is not possible, because millions of tourists visit the state.”

Besides Rishikesh, Uttarakhand’s top tourist sites include Nainital and the Corbett National Park. The state earns around Rs230 billion annually from tourism.

A government spokesperson said, it was counter productive to totally ban liquor as it might end up abetting the hooch industry.

Predictably, the liquor traders are not happy. They said the time restriction made no sense. The same amount of liquor could be bought and consumed, but in a shorter span.