Hotel owners look to beat highway booze ban

The Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHAR) is looking to get an audience with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to request him to consider making national and state highways as 'district highways', in the same way other states have done to save themselves from the Supreme Court that bans the sale of alcohol within 500 meters from national and state highways.

"Liquor shops are closed, and they have incurred losses. We want to meet the CM. We want the state government to consider doing the same thing that other states like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have done by de-notifying highways," said Adarsh Shetty, President, AHAR.

The Supreme Court on December 15, 2016 had ordered the closure of liquor shops withing 500 meters from national and state highways. The court also made it clear that licenses will not be renewed after March 31. On April 1, SC confirmed that their ban included bars and restaurants. Since then, most have shut shop, while their inventory has been seized by the government.

According to Shetty, about 450 outlets in Mumbai have shut shop. Across Maharashtra, the tally is 10,000. "We feel that if the government considers making that change, at least 80 per cent of liquor shops will be saved from shutting down. Relocating them will not be possible as there are real estate issues," said Shetty.

Permit rooms or bars in the city employ 15,000 people, with the number across the state pegged at three lakh.

Riyaz Amlani, President, National Restaurant Association of India, said, "Around 10 lakh people will be unemployed because of the ban," said Amlani.