With the Supreme Court of India refusing to budge from its diktat ordering closure of liquor vends within 500 metres of national and state highways, Mumbai has been literally left high and dry in several places.
The state excise minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said that the hotels and restaurants holding licenses post-December would be cancelled. This means that out of 25,000 licenses, a whopping 15,699 licenses might get cancelled.
In 2001 and 2011, the state PWD department had suggested that certain roads be handed over to the zilla parishads and municipal corporations. Bawankule added that the state stands to face a loss of Rs. 7,000 crore due to the liquor ban but that the state government would try to recoup the losses.
He added that if 15,699 shops selling liquor make sure that they do not fall within 500 metres of the highways, the government would make sure that they get the license to operate.
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