KSBCL stages protest for lack of supply

Mysore, July 13 (UNI) Over 500 wine shop owners of Mysore district today staged a protest against the authorities of Karnataka State Beverages Corporation Ltd (KSBCL) in front of the warehouse in the city for not getting sufficient supply of liquor.

The merchants led by Mysore and Chamarajanagara district Wine Merchants Association President S Guruswamy complained that they were getting only half of their demands, forcing them to close wine stores by afternoon itself leading to heavy losses. To add to their woes the government had doubled the license fee.

The merchants had come to the Corporation today with 280 demand drafts, with an indent for 9,500 cases for two days of liquor stock as the depot would remain closed on second Saturday and Sunday urging the authorities to accept all the demand drafts as the government had set a limit of accepting only 80 DDs per day.

He said after the ban on arrack the demand for bottled liquor had almost doubled, but stocks in wine shops had been cut to half.

According to a KSBCL official, requirement in the district was 5,500 cases of liquor per day while only 2,750 cases were supplied.

He said the merchants sold 97,000 cases of liquor during the last ten days. Before the ban on arrack, it took 25 days to sell the same quantity.

UNI