Dhabas on the city
outskirts wear a deserted look these days, quite uncharacteristic in
summer when they are usually flocked by youngsters and families alike
for a relaxed evening aimed at pampering their taste buds with some
variety dishes and, of course, a liberal flow of their choice spirits.
These places, though, were never supposed to serve liquor, they had been
doing it on the sly for years.What brought the sudden change of
scenario is the police crackdown on these joints, about 40-odd at
Bowenpally, with a strict warning that they should not serve liquor to
their guests.The orders sounded almost death-knell to the
businesses.Most of these dhabas on either side along the National
Highway 7, on the stretch from Bowenpally to Kompally, sport either a
family restaurant kind of look or a rustic setting just to justify their
existence as truck stops offering various eateries.Till a few
days ago when they were serving liquor, these dhabas were the best
venues for party animals looking at celebrations that do not burn a hole
in their pockets as the prices here are obviously much lower than the
swanky bars and restaurants in the city.With the dhabas made a
strict no-liquor zone, they present a totally different picture now. A
midnight visit to a few of these joints revealed that they indeed
stopped serving any alcoholic beverages, be it beer, vodka or whiskey.“We
stopped serving liquor inside the dhaba as police asked us not to allow
consumption of alcoholic products by customers. Summer is a good season
for us to make some money on sale of liquor. With police issuing a
stern warning, customers too are looking the other way,” said Rama
Chander, manager of Sony International Family Dhaba at Bowenpally.Sekhar
Babu, administrator of Akruthi Dhaba at Kompally, said they had to
remove half of the staff due to bad business this summer. “Around this
time last year, we had about 400 guests walking in every day but now
there are not even a few dozen.” Bowenpally Inspector C Venugopal Reddy
told Expresso that they had issued notices to all dhaba managements in
the Bowenpally locality not to sell or serve liquor inside the premises
as per the Excise and Prohibition Act.“We will take stern action
against violators. Our teams are keeping an eye. A couple of days back,
we arrested 11 persons for consuming liquor in front of wine shops,” he
said.
By Mouli Mareedu
moulimareedu@gmail.com
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