Apex court ban downs hotel, bar owners’ ‘spirits’

Sukhmeet Bhasin

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Tribune News Service

Bathinda, April 4

Most of the hi-end hotels and bars in the city are wearing a deserted look these days with the Supreme Court banning the sale and serving of liquor within 500 metres of national and state highways.

Satish Arora, president of Punjab Hotels Association, said the industry was facing a loss of Rs 100 crore per day in the state and the government was facing a revenue loss of around Rs 50 crore per day. 

Most of the hi-ends hotels were on loan and the ban had upset the finances of the owners as there had been a drastic fall in the business due to which the hoteliers would have to pay the salaries of the staff from their pockets, he rued.

Arora demanded that the hotel industry should be given a bailout package and compensation for the closure. 

Arish Katia, owner of Hotel Sepal, said the daily footfall had gone down drastically after the SC order. “The already booked parties are also being cancelled and we are not even getting any advance bookings these days, which is a big reason of worry for us,” he lamented.

Some of the hotel owners said their business had been ruined overnight. They had invested crores of rupees in renovating the bars and hiring several people.

This has even led to panic in the public who had their marriages planned over the next two-three weeks.

Vinod Garg, a city resident, said his brother’s marriage is scheduled for the next week and the marriage palace which they had booked is on the highway. “We don’t know how will we manage to shift the venue at such a short notice,” he said. 

Gurjit Singh, another resident, said “We were quite excited for my daughter’s marriage this weekend. All preparations were complete but this sudden ban has disappointed us. Now we are left with no option as invitations have already been distributed and we are not in a financial position to change the venue. In case the ban is not lifted, the guests will be left disappointed as no marriage in Punjab is complete without liquor”.