Hoardings removed from vends

Mohit Khanna 

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Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, July 15 

A day after The Tribune highlighted how liquor vend operators were making a mockery of the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s orders for banning hoardings on national highways, vends on National Highway-1 today removed the hoardings on their own. 

While a hoarding was removed from  a liquor vend operated by Bajaj and Company,  the rate list and other banners hung outside a liquor vend of NK and Company were removed yesterday. The  hoarding  installed at a liquor vend owned by Gill and Company was covered with a black polythene.  However, a small board was put up outside suggesting it’s a liquor vend.

Assistant Excise and Taxation Officer (AETC) Bhupinder Gupta said: “The liquor vend operators were told to remove the hoardings. If they will not comply with the orders, then our team will remove these.”

Harman Singh Sidhu, president of Arrive Safe, an NGO, who had yesterday blamed the authorities for violating the orders of the High Court and encouraging the disobedience, said such malpractices by liquor vends should be kept under check. 

Liquor vends along the highways were closed down in 2014 following the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. However, in a surprise move, the state government made some amendments to the excise policy and in May liquor vends came up along the national highways.

As per the new guidelines, liquor vends could be opened along the highways falling within the limits of the Municipal Corporation (MC), Municipal Council, Municipal Committee, Notified Area Committee, Nagar Council, Cantonment Board or any other authority having a population of 20,000 or more.

The Tribune had yesterday highlighted that the violation of the orders of the High Court could lead to a rise in accidents on NH-1.