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Telangana home to whopping 2-lakh belt shops
In Short
- Villages have 5-10 illegal liquor outlets each
- Belt shops account for 20% of liquor sales in TG
- Excise wing turns a blind eye with focus on revenues
- State has just 2,620 licenced liquor shops
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Telangana home to whopping 2-lakh belt shops
Hyderabad: Are the Prohibition and Excise authorities looking the other way when it comes to cracking down on belt shops because the state government has adopted a blinkered approach towards boosting revenues from liquor sales? The answer could be in the affirmative if one considers the growing nexus between licenced liquor shops and the raison d’etre of belt shops mushrooming across the state.
If one looks at the increasing revenues from liquor sales in the Telangana state every year, belt shops have been accounting for nearly 20 per cent of the total liquor sales, according to officials. Revenues apart, the big worrying factor is that youth are getting addicted to liquor consumption at an early age due to easy availability of spirits near homes and educational institutions through unauthorised liquor sale points.
Apart from a total of 2,620 licenced liquor shops permitted to sell liquor, more than two lakh belt shops (unauthorised liquor selling outlets) are supplying favourite spirits to every tippler in tribal hamlets, villages and towns as well as in all municipal corporations across the state.
While licensed liquor shops sell liquor during specified timings, belt shops sell liquor round the clock!. According to official reports of the State Excise and Prohibition Department, at least five belt shops are functioning in every small village and 10 in major gram panchayats.
