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Navi Mumbai: Pointing out that a liquor shop at the doorstep of a housing society is an invitation to crime against women, a group of 50 housewives have appealed to the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to take steps and ensure that a wine shop does not open in their complex at Panvel. The liquor shop is slated to be shifted to Enkay Heritage Cooperative Housing Society from another building which is under redevelopment.
Taking up the issue with the CM, convenor of Alert Citizens Committee (ACT), B N Kumar said many consumers buy liquor from wine shops and tend to consume outside the shop while the groups pass snide remarks against women and girls. “Since this housing complex has several other shops such as grocery and fruits, many women go there to shop. In this case, the liquor shop is opening right at the main entrance of the housing society,” Kumar said.
“Many drunkards in the area create trouble after consuming liquor from bars and shops in the neighbourhood,” said a housewife from the society adding, “We do not want this menace spreading to our compound.” This could create conflicts, Kumar said, and urged Shinde to nip the problem before it arises.
The society members had already organised a silent human chain protest against the upcoming menace and have submitted a representation to the Raigad district collector. Society general secretary Naresh Gaikwad said the liquor shop is right across the Sai Baba temple which attracts many devotees. “One can visualise the kind of problems the drunkards can create here,” he said.
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Advocate Jaysing Jagannath Shere, who represented the issue to the Raigad district collector on behalf of the society, said the shop is just 19 metres from the compound wall of the famous Sai Baba temple at Panvel and 140 metres from the main temple. The rule is that liquor shops and bars are banned within 150 metres of a temple or educational institution.
Moreover, the state highway is less than 450 metres away from the shop. The rule prohibits liquor shops and bars within 500 metres of a highway or the service lane along it. He quoted a Supreme Court ruling to support his argument. The housing society, therefore, has requested the Chief Minister to instruct the Raigad district collector and the excise department to not to grant permission for the liquor shop in Enkay Heritage, Panvel.
