'They got it all wrong' says man behind highway liquor ban

Harman Sidhu met with an accident in 1996. The injuries sustained in the accident left his stuck to the wheelchair. He wanted people not to drink and drive, but he now is unhappy with the way the ban has been implemented.

The 47-year-old wheelchair bound crusader,however, is quite unhappy with the decision. He wanted people not to drink and drive, but now there is no alcohol in Chandigarh.

Sidhu has been fighting for the safety of the accident victims ever since he met with an accident in 1996 which forced him to remain wheelchair-bound following the spinal injuries.

"I love to drink and I have to go that extra mile to fetch my stock. I can't accept that a large part of Chandigarh is going dry," Sidhu told Times Of India.

However, he is not happy with how things have turned out.

"Highways are supposed to be outside cities and to be used only for long drives," he said. According to him, there are many highways within the city because the authorities goofed-up.

"Now everybody, including me, will have to suffer," he said.

A large part of Chandigarh's pubs and bars fall within the 500-metre rule, forcing at least 91 bars, pubs and restaurants to go dry.

On October 24, 1996, Sidhu was in car accident with two other friends, while returning to Chandigarh from Himachal Pradesh. His car fell into a gorge and he sustained serious spinal injuries.

“During my two-year long treatment at PGI, I observed that most injured persons being brought to the emergency section were in the road traffic injury category. That was when I decided to do something constructive,” Indian Express quoted Sidhu as saying.

Sidhu established ArriveSafe, a road safety NGO in 2006. But it was in 2011 when the idea of campaigning against the liquor vends came in his mind and he moved an application in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.