To beat liquor ban, Rajasthan denotifies state highways

State and city authorities across India are hunting for ways to circumvent Supreme Court's order banning the sale of liquor within 500m of national and state highways.

In a bid to avoid the loss, the Rajasthan government on Tuesday has declared the state highways passing through populated areas as urban roads.

The state's public works department issued an order for denotification of 190 kilometres of 21 state highways passing through 16 districts and measuring 3,029 kilometres as urban roads or other district roads.

Rajasthan appears to have taken a cue from Chandigarh, where all city roads were declared as urban roads earlier this month for the same reason.

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradsh, Telangana, Goa, Maharashtra, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh have consulted the roads ministry to circumvent Supreme Court's liquor ban order at National and State Highways.

The Telangana government wants the deadline for closure to be extended until September end. There are about 1,400 vends and bars in state, located within 500 metres from highways.

The road ministry had pushed the idea of liquor ban on national highways more than a decade ago.

OneIndia News