After the Karnataka High Court turned down Bengaluru pub owners’ plea for fresh liquor licenses, the liquor industry in the city is facing a crisis. Realising that a ban on liquor service will not be lifted anytime soon, many liquor stores/pubs are looking to move out of the Central Bengaluru District and other prominent entertainment zones.
On Tuesday, Karnataka High Court dismissed the bar owners’ plea to denotify national highway stretches. This comes as a final nail on the coffin for pub owners, as few days ago the Ministry of Road Transport and Highway had refused to denotify the national highways as well.
According to the Excise Department, at least 31 pubs in the city have relocated and more have put in requests for relocation. While on a state level more than 30% of the liquor stores/pubs have moved from highway areas, another 30% have requested relocation.
“With the High Court also not agreeing, licenses of these pubs can’t be renewed, unless they move out of a 500 meter radius. So, many are now approaching offices of their respective deputy commissioners for relocation,” said a senior excise department official.
“We have little hope that the state government is capable of helping us. The Ministry has been clear that unless the bypasses are created in the city and government has no answer to this issue. I can’t keep my establishment in the hope that the government would do something for us,” said a Brigade Road pub owner, on condition of anonymity.
Cities like New Delhi, Mumbai and others have managed to salvage their affected pubs and bars, as they were situated on state highways. As state highways fall under the state’s jurisdiction, they have been denotified. Bengaluru, however, has a peculiar problem, where most of the pubs that have been shut down are on National Highways and only the Centre can denotify them.
Some pub owners are not giving up the fight and they said they would appeal against the court’s decision, however there is little hope.
Relocation is not going to be easy. Most of the prominent entertainment hubs in the city, like MG Road, Koramangala and Indiranagar are affected by the Supreme Court order. And even if the pubs want to relocate, it is hard to find real estate in already saturated locations like this. The cost that comes with relocation will also burn a huge hole in the pub owners’ pocket, who have now been out of business for over a month.
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