KL Report
SRINAGAR
A Jammu based activist has filed a petition before National Human Rights Commission seeking directions to remove Wine Shops along National Highways across country.
Sharing details of the petition, the activist said that the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways while showing serious concern regarding rising number of fatalities in road accidents caused by drunken driving, in December 2011 wrote to the State Governments to remove all wine shops along National Highways and to ensure that no fresh license is issued to the liquor vendors to sell liquor along National Highways. However flouting the advisory with impunity, many wine shops could be seen selling liquor along National Highways of the country and thus violating the fundamental ‘Right to Life’ and safety of the innocent people by putting their lives on risk of accidents caused by drunken driving.
He said that the country has witnessed many tragic accidents in the past and many of these accidents happened because of drunken driving and the hilly terrain of many state makes drunken driving more risky and prone to cause accidents. But the respective State Governments seems to be under tremendous pressure of the liquor lobby as it has turned a deaf ear to the instruction of the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on the removal of liquor shops from the NH.
“It is easy to get the liquor shops the National Highways in the State and the easy availability of liquor leads to drunken driving and to accidents”, Deepak Sharma was quoted saying.
Deepak has prayed seeking directions to remove Wine Shops along National Highways, not to issue fresh licenses to sell liquor along National Highways and to fix minimum distance to sell liquor near Educational Institutions and Places of worship.
