After Gujarat and Bihar, Chandigarh may be liquor free soon

New Delhi : It is shocker, when people came to know, Punjab and Haryana capital Chandigarh may face liquor ban. After Gujarat and Bihar, Chandigarh may join them by April 1.

The ban looms after the Supreme Court’s 2016 verdict where the closure of liquor shops on state highways and national highways had been ordered. The liquor licenses of shops on highways won’t be renewed after April 1.

Unfortunately, in Chandigarh, Sectors are 1.2 km long and 0.8 km wide. With all vertical roads being state highways, 500 metres on either side of the road covers the whole of the city. Thus, all sectors come within 500 metres of state highways.

The major reason behind the decision which created a situation of panic is that all the major roads in Chandigarh are state highways and fall within the ambit of the judgment.

As per reports, the categorisation of roads was done some 20 years back where the UT administration could maintain these roads, with the municipal corporation falling short of funds. As of now, apart from the single national highway that passes through the city, all major roads are state highways.