Booze shop irks locals, AIADMK MLA leads stir

PUDUCHERRY: Residents of Velrampet, Erikarai,  led by AIADMK MLA A Baskar, staged a protest against the opening of an arrack shop which had recently been auctioned by the Excise Department, on Thursday.Problems arose after the shop, originally at Kodisamy Nagar near Reddiarpalayam, was shifted to Velrampet  Erikarai this year. It was started around six to seven years ago in Kodisamy Nagar when there were no residents nearby. However, later when people settled down in the vicinity of the shop, the residents raised objection to the continuance of the shop. The site selection committee for arrack shops considered the objection and decided to shift it. The Erikarai area was selected and interestingly the shop had no takers during  16 rounds of auction. Finally it was auctioned out very recently for which a bank guarantee of `25 lakh was paid. Though there are no residents in the vicinity, people have to use the road in front of the shop to reach their residences and this led to the protest with the MLA petitioning the Deputy Commissioner (Excise) against the shop.The blockade was withdrawn after an assurance to look into the issue was given by the authorities. Arrack is one of the main revenue grossers for the Union territory and the revenue from the shop is `60 lakh per annum. The government needs to find an alternative place or close down the shop.