KENDRAPARA: Womenfolk of Badapada in Pattamundai staged road blockade for four hours demanding closure of a licensed Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) shop in the village on Monday.While the owner and salesmen of the shop managed to escape, police prevented the agitators from damaging the liquor outlet. A large number of men also joined the women’s protest. Sources said the locals have been opposing the sale of liquor in the area since long.
Anapurna Sahoo, an agitator of Badapada, alleged that unchecked flow of liquor is wreaking havoc on the lives of people. Due to the liquor shop, anti-social activities have gone up in the locality. Police, on the other hand, have turned a blind eye to the menace. “Besides, many daily wagers are spending all their money on liquor. This is the reason why womenfolk are now up in arms against the liquor traders,” said Sahoo.
Many youths have already become addicts and are wasting a substantial part of their earnings on liquor. Due to the government’s thirst for revenue, innocent families are being ruined. The administration should immediately close the liquor shop in the area, said another agitator Bharati Sethi.“Earlier, we had submitted memorandums to the district Collector, SP and the Excise officials requesting not to open any liquor shop in our village. But the authorities did not pay any heed to our pleas. We don’t want alcohol, we want water,” Sethi added.
Contacted, Pattamundai IIC Tapan Kumar Rout said local tehsildar Dilip Sethi and other officials held discussions with the agitators. Security has been tightened in the village to prevent any untoward incident.