Liquor flows even as laws are flouted!

A social menace

Even in this scorching heat, the one thing for which some people continue to brave the crowd tirelessly is liquor.

The tempting trap laid out by a couple of liquor shops on the busy Netaji Subhash Marg and a bigger one – only short of a liquor showroom – at Asaf Ali Road is easy to fall for. It is only natural then that the shops see hoards of people, each belonging to a different class - from the rich to the rickshaw pullers and beggars who otherwise struggle to survive but magically arrange money to buy liquor regularly.

The old Delhi area is anyways very congested and attracts beggars and other disturbing elements, giving them an easy hideout and allowing for an easy mix with the crowd to escape being caught. While the residents and commuters are fed up of the atmosphere here, liquor shops only add to their woes. “I commute to Dwarka daily and catch a bus to the nearest metro station from Golcha. I usually return late in the evening. During the day the area is decent enough. But in the evening as the liquor sales pick up, drunkards are hard to avoid,” echoes Aditi, a Mass Communication student at IP University who lives in Darya Ganj.

As always, girls and children remain at a greater risk. The trauma is such that parents have advised their kids and daughters to return home early in the day and stay indoors afterwards. Shanti, an elderly woman residing in the area says, “After around 4pm, people start flocking the wine shops and the area soon turns into a drunken zone. No one is safe here especially girls and we do not let them venture into the market alone. At times, drunkards even snatch away our valuables. In fact, in the morning one can find alcoholics lying around the pavement or road, obviously not giving a very pleasant sight. ”
To make matters worse, the residents are not too hopeful of a helping hand.

They complain that even the presence of a policeman at the liquor shop fails to tame such nuisance. “The police constables here are always looking for bribes. They hardly take any action when a drunkard creates menace or the traffic gets blocked following the rush at the shops,” Ms. Shanti adds worriedly, strictly objecting to wine shops being located in residential areas.

When Metro Life inquired at the Darya Ganj Police Station about the state of security in the area, Sub Inspector Rahul assured us of the situation being under control. “We have especially appointed beat constables placed at every liquor shop in the vicinity and they keep a track of the mis-happenings there. We want safety of the people and hence keep a watch on the disturbing elements in the area and take action whenever necessary,” he declares.

It seems the contrast between the real life experience and the promise made is yet to be acknowledged.