46 liquor vends set to be closed along highways in Delhi

Forty-six liquor vends in the national capital are set to be closed following the Supreme Court's order that no liquor shops will be permitted within 500 metres of highways in the country.
After the apex court's verdict on December 15, the Delhi government conducted a survey which found that 46 liquor vends comes within 500 meters from the highways.
The Supreme Court had directed that no liquor shop shall be visible and directly accessible from the highways nor it should be situated within 500 metres of the outer edge of the national or state highway or of the service lane.

"In its survey by the excise department, 46 liquor vends were found within the range of 500 meters from the highways. As per the SC order, these vends won't be allowed to operate after March 31," a senior government official said.
Sources said the Delhi government may also move the Supreme Court to seek more clarity on its order of shutting down liquor vends along national and state highways by March 31.
As per the top court order, licenses of existing liquor shops on national and state highways will not be renewed after March 31.

The SC bench had expressed unhappiness over the alleged inaction by various states in removing liquor shops along roads which give rise to drunken driving and consequential fatalities.

In its order, it had noted, "The expressways witnessed 4,208 accident cases, 4,229 injured and 1,802 deaths. Figures are also available of the distribution of road accidents by causes during 2014. 1.38 lakh persons were injured in road accidents involving dangerous or careless driving and 42,127 deaths occurred."
"Injuries caused in accidents due to over-speeding stood at 1.81 lakh while there were 48,654 deaths. 7,307 accident cases involving driving under the influence of drugs/alcohol were registered resulting in 7,398 injuries and 2,591 deaths," the bench had noted.