Residents blame liquor shop locations for traffic chaos
Bhopal: 'Tipplers find a way to the booze shop, wherever it may be located,' goes a popular saying. However, in Bhopal, it would seem that liquor vendors ensure that their outlet is located in a place where it's visible to all.
This doesn't sit well with a lot of residents and commuters.
As a result, liquor shops from Ratibad to Trilanga, Shahpura to Arera Colony, Shivaji Nagar to MP Nagar, and Jahangirabad are located just by the roadside in busy market areas. As the crowd in the shop swells by evening, there is virtual chaos outside the shops with people and their vehicles all around. Traffic jams at the site are a common sight, and shoppers, particularly women and children, avoid the route to save themselves from inconvenience.
The norms of not having a liquor shop in a residential colony, near a school, college, or religious place are also ignored in pursuit of having the booze shop in the glare of all.
District collector Kaushlendra Vikram Singh, when asked whether there are no guidelines as to where liquor shops should be located, said, "Yes, there are guidelines, and if there are shops located in violation of the norms, you send me information about them, I will get it cross-checked," he said on the matter.
Atulya Jain, a resident of Gulmohar Colony, referring to his experience in Trilanga, said, "There was a road jam, a queue of vehicles honking from the liquor shop to the square on the other side of a mall. As the jam persisted, I thought let's find out what has happened. I saw a truck laden with liquor bottles trying to get closer to the liquor shop for unloading, and there were vehicles all around outside the shop. Such sights are not rare, though," he added.
Sandhya Shandilya, who lives in Shivaji Nagar, said, "In years, I don't remember going towards the liquor shop at 5 No. Stop after the evening. Buying liquor and going off is one thing, but you have people drinking in the open or in their vehicles. People using abusive language for each other and fighting is also common. To be fair to them, I never heard that they misbehaved with anyone visiting the market, but the atmosphere becomes such in the evening that I avoid going to the market myself and don't allow my children to go there either.
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Aruna Deshpande, a resident of Manisha market, said, "Several women from my colony would rather avoid going that side because of the chaos that prevails outside the liquor shops from the evening to late in the night," she said.
Ramesh Sharma, who lives in Shahpura, pointed out that for two years, including the Corona period, the liquor shop was in a street by the side of Manisha Market, and people didn't have any issues of traffic jams or chaos on the main road. "But every liquor contractor wants his shop to be located on the main road or middle of a market, and since they can pay the hefty rent, they usually get one. Besides, district administration, excise department, and BMC all help them to get a shop at the place of their choice," he said.
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