Shut these liquor shops down

CHENNAI: Residents of Perambur, on Sunday, picketed two TASMAC shops in their locality near the Pazhani Aandavar Temple and demanded that they be closed with immediate effect. They alleged that the shops were within 100 metres of a school and the temple, which was violation of norms.A handful of protesters who gathered outside the shops in the morning, raised slogans against the TASMAC administration. According to them, the liquor shops are located within the prohibited area as prescribed in the Tamil Nadu Liquor (Retail Vending Rules), which mandate that no bar or liquor shops could be opened within 100 metres of an educational institution or a place of worship.P Prabudoss, a resident and state president of the Tamil Nadu Student Congress, who organised the protest, said that boundary lines marked during elections indicated that the shops were well within the 100 metre range of the school.Further, the protesters also cited observations of the Madras High Court where, in a litigation between residents of Kilpauk and TASMAC, it had said that, “the nuisance created by the drunkards would extend even beyond the safety area prescribed under the rules. Therefore it all depends upon the facts and circumstances of each case. The factum of location of the shop beyond the prohibited distance would not come to the rescue of the licensee of liquor shops in the event of there being a perennial nuisance to the residents of the area”.Given the fact that the school students and people visiting the temple, especially women, were constantly put in discomfort by drunkards, they said that TASMAC must take immediate measures to close down the shops.“Apart from the nuisance, the shops might also tempt the students to take to the habit,” said a resident.Residents alleged that while the TASMAC authorities, following earlier protests, agreed to remove the shop from the locality, they have now, instead, opened an additional shop right next to the existing one.They warned that if the shops were not closed down, the residents would not allow them to function.