From Booze to Boos as Centre Says No Denotifying B’Luru Highways

Bad news for pub lovers in the city.

In a big blow to pub hoppers in the city, the central government said “no” to Karnataka’s proposal to denotify national highways running through the city. Around 340 pubs and bars across the city had to stop their services as they were within 500 meters of a highway.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, in a communication dated 14 August, said that Karnataka has not constructed any bypasses for the 147 portions of national highways they want denotified.

Report added that ministry is also not in a position to denotify these stretches of Highways, as the Supreme Court has neither reviewed nor modified its verdict on banning liquor shops within 500 metres from the outer edge of National Highways, State highways or service roads along the highways.

Also Read: Bengaluru Pubs Run Dry a Month After SC’s Liquor Ban Near Highways

The details of the report were revealed when it was submitted before the Karnataka High Court on Thursday. The report was submitted during the hearing of a petition filed by the owners of liquor joints situated in Bengaluru’s prominent entertainment hubs, demanding the denotification.

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.

According to pub owners, roads like MG Road and Old Madras Road were historically National Highways. But the decision to retain the highway status of these roads, even after they became part of the city, is a mistake pub owners are paying for.

“As these roads came under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the city received large funds for maintenance. Even when these roads became an integral part of the city, they didn’t denotify them, so that the funds didn’t stop coming,” said one of the pub owners, on the condition of anonymity.

For the pub and bar owners, this is a big blow, as many prominent waterholes in the city have been shut for over a month. Ashish Kothare, a pub owner, told The Quint that even though the pubs have been paying salaries to their employees, it would be difficult to sustain the business without any revenue.

Kothare, who was one of the pub owners to have filed the petition in the High Court said that unless a favourable decision comes from High Court, the pub industry of the city will suffer heavy losses.

The next hearing of the case is scheduled for 24 August.

Also Read: Liquor Ban, Abattoir Crackdown Poses Serious Threats to Job Market

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