City tipplers’ favourite hangouts on MG Road, Church Street and Brigade Road which shut down following Supreme Court orders, wear a deserted look even on weekends. The court had ordered closure of all liquor shops falling within 500 metres of the national highways.
These pubs and bars, which used to stay open till midnight on weekdays and up to 1 am on weekends, are now shutting as early as 8 pm. As many as 736 waterholes have been affected by the order in the city. Of these 53 opted for transfer and 683 were closed.
Though owners and staff of these waterholes are affected, there are no worries for tipplers. While Toit on 100 Ft Road, Indiranagar, is filled to the brim with waiting time exceeding one hour, Barebones, the balcony bar a few metres from Toit, has been affected by the ban and has seen a drastic fall in clientele.
Every pub or bar which has been barred from selling alcohol, is looking for answers. Easy Tiger on Church Street says its management has been in discussions with the excise department and something concrete should come up by this month end.
Srinivas Gowda, general manager, Pecos, feels that there will be no respite at least for a month. “The government is acting slow, people have been saying that it might take 15 to 20 days, but I am uncertain about it. There is no point in wasting time and waiting for the government, that is why we have already taken a new place in BTM Layout and started functioning.”
To keep their business running and minimise losses, Pecos plans to set up two other outlets, one in Indiranagar and another either near Manyata Tech Park or in JP Nagar. A few pubs on Church Street and Brigade Road have shut shop because they are unable to even afford the electricity bill or pay their employees.
Blue Frog, another popular hangout on Church Street has seen a decrease of almost 75% in the number of people coming in. Amit, general manager, Blue Frog, says, “The last two weeks have been terrible. There has been such a huge fall in numbers that we are able to fill up only on weekends, that too if we have a good band performing.”
Meanwhile, the Law department is waiting for a written word from the top court on the ban. Recently, the Supreme Court, in a case challenged by the Haryana and Punjab governments, said state governments had the powers to denotify highways within city limits. “We are waiting for a written word from the Supreme Court after which we can take an appropriate decision,’’ Law Minister T B Jayachandra said.