Liquor is quicker

For the Election Commission (EC), the sale of liquor appears okay but it doesn’t feel the same way about timber. The poll panel has stalled the Chhattisgarh’s state government’s planned auction of timber since the model code of conduct has come into effect in the state. It has, however, granted the state’s excise department permission to go ahead with its plan to auction liquor shops in the state. According to BK Sinha, the state’s chief conservator of forests, the decision to halt the timber sales could result in damage to timber more than Rs 12 crore lying in the state’s depots. The timber merchants’ association of the state adds that more than 1,400 saw mills in the state will also face a severe raw material crisis if the sales are halted. While the timber traders are crying foul, the state’s liquor lobby has reasons to celebrate. The state government has decided to open 37 new liquor shops in the coming year — of these, there will be six selling country-made liquor and 31 selling Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL).