The small stretch of the Pantakaluva Road adjoining residential colonies on both sides near Autonagar has turned into a major cause of concern for the people living nearby as well as the motorists.
The 270-metre stretch has turned into a cluster of liquor outlets as there are four of them serving thousands of tipplers every day.
One of them was recently established in a home that has been turned into a wine shop near the intersection of the Pantakaluva Road and the Highschool Road.
The situation is only going to turn worse as three bar and restaurants are all set to come up in the vicinity. Thanks to the ban on liquor outlets near the highways, traders are flocking to residential areas.
Trouble starts for the people of the P&T Colony, R.R. Gardens and other colonies as the sun sets and the tipplers gather in large numbers outside the outlets.
The students of the Patamata ZP High School in the P&T Colony and another private school on the Highschool Road had to deal with the tipplers daily as they walk home after school.
Despite Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s orders to arrest people consuming liquor on the roads, tipplers visiting these outlets continue to consume liquor in the open and fall unconscious on the roadside and dividers.
They often pick up quarrels causing nuisance and sometimes traffic jams.
The premises of these shops are so crowded that the number of tipplers on roads is double the number inside the permit rooms.
“After 6 in the evening, we do not dare to send children outside in our area. People come in large numbers to these two shops located near the Autonagar junction. They stroll on the road, consume liquor and some of them lie down unconscious till morning. It is impossible for the colony people to use the road,” said P. Madhav, a resident of the P&T Colony.
Ironically, the area is under the municipal division of city Mayor Koneru Sridhar.
Locals move court
The residents of the R.R. Gardens colony moved the High Court against the establishment of a wine shop in the residential area. They have succeeded as the HC has issued an interim stay against the establishment of the shop.
“There is no restriction on establishing a number of outlets at a particular place amid shopping complexes. Due to the ban on the outlets at the highways, traders are rushing to the interior,” said G. Muralidhar, Excise Superintendent, Vijayawada.