BENGALURU: The Supreme Court’s blanket ban on sale of liquor near highways might soon claim its first major victim.The two Pecos outlets near Brigade Road, which were favourite with beer guzzlers will be on their way out. Owners of the iconic pub now plan to move the outlets to Indiranagar and Banaswadi or Kammanahalli respectively.
It’s been one month since the apex court banned alcohol shops within 500m of all highways.
General Manager of the pub Srinivas Gowda said that due to the plummeting sales over the last month, the owners have decided to relocate the pub. He said, “On some days, we haven’t even had a single customer and overall sales are a fraction of what they were earlier. Work on our new outlet is currently going on at Indiranagar 12th Main Road and the management is also scouting for another location at either Banaswadi or Kammanahalli.”
The pub had taken to serving coffee in beer mugs with the enforcement of the ban, and was renamed ‘Pecos Highway Coffee Pub’ in a sarcastic allusion to MG Road being a highway. Gowda said almost half of the staff members had been relieved of their duties and were being paid only half the salaries. He lamented the lack of progress in denotifying the highways within the city, and said the government should do more.
Salman S H, a regular visitor to the pub, said, “Pecos was built in a prime location at the heart of the city - MG Road. This, along with its bustling crowd and music, was what Pecos was all about. It wasn’t just the beer. Although I might go to the new outlet, Pecos will never be the same again.”
Others too have a tough time
Several people associated with the affected pubs and liquor outlets are also suffering a great deal owing to the ban. Many outlets have undergone huge losses. Albert Tangling, a bartender at Sherlock’s Pub in Koramangala, said the number of visitors has reduced drastically and added that many waiters and bartenders don’t have any work at the pub. Some have even quit their jobs, he said.
DJ Martin D’Souza, who plays at Happy Brew in Koramangala, said the outlet was kept open in spite of the poor turnout as they did not want to fire any staff members. He said, “I play at different venues, but it’s the resident DJs who are more affected as they have no work now.”
Srinivas Gowda of Pecos said a group of pubs and 5-star hotel representatives had filed a petition in the High Court to denotify highways within the city, but the court was asking for too many documents.
President of the state’s Wine Merchants’ Association Govindraj Hegde said that at least 3,500 liquor outlets were shut in the state and losses were estimated to be anywhere between `40 and `60 crore in July alone. He said he expects the losses to gradually increase.