VIJAYAWADA: The residents of Indira Enclave Apartment in Ayodhya nagar staged a dharna here Tuesday demanding the closure of a wine shop being constructed beside their apartment. More than 100 residents, mostly women and children, took to the road demanding that the wine shop proposed in the residential area be shut down, for the benefit of women and the students of Gokaraju Ranga Raju Surya School. Besides, there was an Ayyappa Temple on the other side of the wine shop within a distance of 50 m, they pointed out.
“The liquor outlet was allotted by the excise officials without following the norms. There is a school and a temple in close proximity of the proposed wine shop. As this is a residential area where women and children pass by, it will cause not just nuisance but also pose serious safety problems. We will fight till the wine shop is removed from the locality,” said Sarat Chandra, a resident of Indira Enclave Apartments.
Up on learning about the protest launched by the apartment residents, Vijayawada Central MLA Bonda Uma Maheswara Rao rushed to the spot and interacted with them. He also asked the wine shop licence holder to stop the ongoing construction work of the outlet. The MLA assured that he would pursue the issue with the excise officials and close the wine shop.