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Rs 5000 cr revenue vs 972 deaths: What does the Karnataka government prefer?

  • Apprehending a major dip in excise revenue, Karnataka has decided to denotify highways running through cities and towns.
  • Excise department has reported that Rs 5,000 crore losses will be incurred if liquor licences on highways are cancelled
  • More than 60 per cent of the total licenses have been given to liquor stores on highways --  6,015 out of 10,165 licences are on the highways 
  • The government has however turned a blind eye to the number of accidents caused due to drunken driving on highways
  • Between 2011 and 2015, as many as 972 people have been killed on highways by drunk drivers
Revenue vs life Karnataka government clearly prefers the former

Karnataka is not the first state to be trying to circumvent the Supreme Court’s directive of banning sale of alcohol 500 mt within the national and state highways. Other States like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha have already adopted measures to circumvent the SC order, and Karnataka is merely following suit. 

This is the Siddaramaiah administration’s justification for its decision to denotify state and national highways passing through towns and cities. Karnataka is all set to declare 858 km of such roads as Urban Local Body Authority Roads, thereby giving a fresh lease of life to thousands of liquor stores, restaurants and hotels thriving on these roads.

The State government keenly monitors the Excise revenue annually, as it’s the second highest revenue generating department. For 2017-18, the department’s budget target is a whopping Rs 18,050 crore.But the SC order meant heavy losses. The Excise department has reported that it will be incurring losses of over Rs 5,000 crore annually with the cancellation of liquor licences on the highways.

Of the 10,165 licenses given out by the department, as many as 6,015 licenses are on the highways -- 3,307 licenses on state highways; and 2,708 licenses on national highways. Almost 60 per cent of the licenses will be affected with the imposition of the ban. In a bid to shore up as much revenue possible, the government hit upon the idea of denotifying highways -- given that it’s election season. In doing so, the Siddaramaiah government has however turned a blind eye to the risks involved in endorsing alcohol consumption, especially on highways.

A look at the statistics says it all. Between 2011 and 2015, there have been 4,118 accidents on the State highways, all thanks to road users driving under the influence of alcohol. These drunk drivers have killed 972 people and have left 5,133 people injured.

Highway accidents/deaths caused by road users under the influence of alcohol in Karnataka

Year Accidents Deaths Injuries
2015 298 62 244
2014 2,207 511 2,838
2013 495 118 525
2012 577 145 798
2011 541 136 728
Total 4,118 972 5,133

 

As per the data available on the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) website, Karnataka is no better than states like Bihar, Haryana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, when it comes to drunk driving accidents.

Despite by massive awareness drives conducted by the Karnataka police, the number of cases have been going up year on year. According to the police, as many as 82,049 drunk driving cases were booked across the State in the year 2014. The numbers went up to 92,694 in the year 2015 and 1,06,674 cases in 2016! Till April this year, as many as 29,022 cases have been booked.

Though Siddaramaiah has claimed that his government was not encouraging alcohol consumption. He was however quick to add that prohibition was not really the answer, as it would only lead to bootlegging

Ever since the SC order, the department has shifted 38 liquor stores on the highways. It has claimed that efforts are on to shift the remaining liquor shops/restaurants/hotels before the June 30 deadline.
 

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