MYSURU: As campaigning is picking up for the Kerala Assembly elections which will be held on May 16, liquor sales in the border wine shops seem to have shot up considerably.
People who could not afford to have liquor in five star hotels have now made it a point to cross the border to have enough liquor and manage to carry sufficient liquor back home.
After campaigning began, sales of liquor in Kutta and Karike in Virajpet, Mukutta in Madikeri taluk, Karapura in H D Kote taluk and in Gundlupet have gone up.
People come in jeeps and buses to the border area to buy liquor and many shops sell more than 2,500 cases of liquor and wine nowadays, sources said.
A wine shop and resort at Bavali was selling at least 3,000 cases of liquor daily and following complaints, DC C Shikha inspected the spot and ordered the closure of the wine shop which is just 120 metres from the state highway, but the law says it should be beyond 250 metres.
However, a wine shop opened in Karapura on H D Kote-Mananthavady Road has too many customers from Kerala. Excise Inspector Ramesh said they asked the licence holder in Bavali to seek for a change of place. He added that the flow of visitors from Kerala to Bavali has come down after the closure of the wine shop.
The wine shops in Kutta and Gundlupet registered a steep rise in the sales of liquor.
Youths Make a Fast Buck
A majority of youths on the border villages make huge money by storing liquor bottles and sell it with a margin of `20-50 per quarter bottle for customers on the Kerala side. They manage to enter Kerala via estate roads or some cross rivers to hand over bottles to people on the other side of the border.
Increase in the number of homestays, hotels and resorts with bars in Gundlupet has boosted tourism in the region as many from Kerala make a beeline for these places on week-ends.
Excise officials maintain that they can’t stop or keep a vigil on the people purchasing liquor from wine shops. “We will act if there is any specific complaint of people smuggling liquor illegally to Kerala via forest or country roads,” said an officer.
Shops to be Closed for Polls
Sources in the Excise Department said top officials of both Karnataka and Kerala have decided to close down wine shops falling within 5-km from the Kerala border two days before the state goes to polls. The authorities decided to step up vigil about the illegal transportation of liquor across the border. However, there will be no restriction on people buying liquor that are situated more than 5-km away from the Kerala border.