MANGALURU: Bengre, a narrow strip situated between the Arabian Sea and the Phalguni river in Mangaluru, has maintained a self-imposed, community-enforced ban on the sale of liquor for the last three decades.
Dhananjaya Puthran Bengre, former president of Bengre Mahajana Sabha and a senior member of the fishing community, told the TNIE that they took a pledge in 1994 against the sale of liquor in their village, and there were five government-run liquor and toddy shops which they managed to shut down.
The Mogaveera and Kharvi community women had initially approached the leaders of the fishing community in the coastal village complaining about increased domestic violence as men in their houses were heavily addicted to alcohol. The concerned women in the village had appealed to the leaders to at least ban the sale of liquor and end the menace of inebriation as many men of all ages were under the spell of alcoholism.
There are over 500 households in Thota Bengre alone. To convince the villagers to join the anti-liquor campaign, the Bengre Mahajana Sabha held a meeting of all those who were running liquor and toddy shops in the village and made them aware of the ill effects of the consumption of liquor.
"I was the president of Bengre Mahajana Sabha when we took this pledge. The pledge was taken in the presence of S K Amin, former Udupi MLA at Shri Mahavishnu Sheshashayana Bhajana Mandira. During those days there were five legal liquor shops, country liquor shops and toddy shops in our village. Some of the residents were selling beer in the village. We the leaders of the fishing community and residents, especially the women decided to stop sale of liquor in Thota Bengre, Kasba Bengre, Kudroli Bengre and Bokkapatna Bengre and due to our collective resolve, even today the ban on sale of liquor continues in our village," Dhananjaya said adding that it was not an easy job to shut down legally operating liquor shops.
"In Bengre, all the families are completely dependent on fishing. With liquor gone, the education level in our village has improved, and the literacy rate here is above 95% now. There are even double graduates in our village," said a woman from the fishing community from Thota Bengre.
The villagers have opposed both liquor and tobacco sales, with most shops in Thota Bengre, one of the habitations along the stretch, banning them. "We are imposing fines on the sale of tobacco products," they said.