For many people, Chandigarh is no doubt, the best weekend destination, be it for sightseeing or be it for partying hard. Yes, it is considered to be a happening place especially for people from North India.
However, soon the place might turn into a boring one, thanks to the December 2016 judgment of the Supreme Court.
After Gujarat and Bihar, Chandigarh might turn into a dry state after 1st of April 2017. Since Supreme Court has ordered closure of all liquor vendors on state highways and national highways, there might be a complete liquor ban in Chandigarh, because all major roads in the Union Territory are either national highways or state highways.
Anurag Aggarwal, the home secretary stated that
“In Chandigarh, Sectors are 1.2 km long and 0.8 km wide. With all vertical roads being state highways, 500 metres on either side of the road covers the whole of the city. Thus, all sectors come within 500 metres of state highways.”
20 years back, when Municipal Corporation had financial issues, it categorized Chandigarh into state highways and national highways for maintenance of roads; after this categorization, the maintenance fell under the engineering department.
This decision that was taken 2 decades back might prove to be harmful for liquor lovers in Chandigarh. For finding out a way, a 4 member committee has been set up, which comprises of a taxation commissioner, chief architect, MC chief engineer and UT chief engineer.
By the coming week, the committee would submit the report; let’s see what decision is taken.
