With a little help from the state, Pune hotels and bars restructure their entrance and make access routes longer than 500 m from the highway to circumvent SC's liquor ban
The Orchid VITS already has a permit from the state
Hunting for a drink near the highway will leave your head spinning even before you get a sip of alcohol. Several reputed three and four-star hotels in the city are now literally drawing a loophole around the law by cutting off the direct access routes and instead installing fences to create new routes that are more than 500 m from the highway. What's more, many of them even have the state's permission to do this.
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Drawing loopholes
This roundabout solution is especially common in and around the city's IT hub, Hinjewadi, where the target market comprises young executives who drink. Many of the local establishments near the highway suffered losses to the tune of Rs 200 crore per month, following the Supreme Court ban on liquor within 500 metres of the highway.
mid-day paid a visit to Sayaji hotel, which is bang on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway, not even 100 metres off the road. Getting in, however, is another matter altogether. Instead of driving in straight to the hotel's entrance, patrons will now have to around the entire parking lot, thanks to the fencing that has been installed by the hotel management to circumvent the SC ban.
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Sayaji manager Parag Salunke told this reporter, "We have got approval for this. We are abiding by the law. We are not alone in trying this alternative; many of our competitors are also doing it."
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State is helping them
These hotels have got some help from the state excise department, which also witnessed a drop in its revenue since the highway liquor ban. Within the city limits, from around 2,600 liquor establishments, 1,680 have shut down since the SC ruling. With this loss in revenue for the state, it's no wonder that the government is also helping the bars to skirt the ban.
In fact, officials at the state excise department confirmed that they have received at least 30 such applications from hotels seeking a way around the 500-metre roadblock.
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State excise superintendent Mohan Varde said, "Hotels that have ample space can change the structure of their entrance route in this manner. Our officers have visited such establishments and approved the changes. Recently, we approved the application from the Orchid VITS hotel, while some other files are still being processed."
Local corporators have approached the Public Works Department (PWD) to de-classify highways within municipal limits, so that such liquor shops can resume business there. However, PMC Mayor Mukta Tilak is against such declassification. Shiv Sena has also opposed the idea.
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