Govt move to reopen toddy shops draws flak

HYDERABAD: In a move that is giving sleepless night to denizens, the government is planning to open more toddy shops. Presently there are close to 35 toddy shops which have acquired permission to start business, across the expanse of the city, mostly in Secunderabad area.
"There are close to 103 toddy shops in the city which were shut down when the ban on toddy was imposed.We plan on resurrecting all of them in the near future," said S M Ramakrishna Rao, former president othe f toddy tappers cooperative society.
People have not taken to this kindly and many of them reportedly barged into a toddy shop near Vengal Rao Nagar and began breaking bottles to show their angst against the reopening of these toddy shops. Denizens fear that these more shops will resort to sale of spurious liquor as there are no toddy trees in the greater Hyderabad limits.
The matter was also brought up in the second session of the legislative assembly, conducted on Tuesday, where MLAs D K Aruna and M Sudheer Reddy had questioned excise minister T Padma Rao Goud on how the government proposes to prevent the sale of illicit liquor.
The minister responded saying that field officers are being provided with kits for detecting chloral hydroxide, diazepam and other additives. These inspections will be conducted at regular intervals and those indulging in adulteration will have their licenses suspended or cancelled, he further added.
However, it is the women from the below poverty line families who fear for the worst as they think that the men would splurge most of their money on this intoxicant.
"We have come to this city in debt and if the government continues to legalise these shops, then our husbands will sell our gold and other valuables in the house to satiate their high," said Jaiamma, a domestic worker, from Dammaiguda.
Another issue that might come as a hindrance is the way the licenses are being issued to the toddy shops. According to Ramakrishna Rao, the shop owners would have to pay a nominal fee of Rs 50 per toddy tree to set up a shop in any area. With no proper means of gauging the number of trees in an area, this might stand to falter, say senior officials from the excise department.