Where jeeps help tipplers get their daily fix

For tipplers in the small town of Mangra in Thrissur, no path is too tough or steep for the daily fix.

From morning till evening, tipplers arrive on jeeps to a newly-opened state-run liquor outlet to buy their daily quota of spirits.

The liquor outlet is located 200 metres from Mangra, along a forest road, and jeeps are the only way to reach the shop located on a hill.

The new outlet, which opened after the retail outlet in Wadakkancherry town had to be shut due to court orders, is a difficult trek by foot.

"Today jeep drivers are doing roaring business, as they take 10 people on every trip up the 200-metre path. After people collect their bottles, the jeep charges Rs 10 per person. The 200-metre forest road is tricky. While going up the hill may not be a problem, but to return with a bottle in hand is a tough task. So all avail the services of the numerous jeeps waiting downhill for the upward journey," said local Congress legislator Anil Akkara.

The Supreme Court had ordered all liquor outlets to be moved away from state and national highways after April 1. Mangra is located 23 km from Thrissur, the cultural capital of Kerala.

--IANS

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