Protests continued in various localities of the winter capital city, Jammu, over the opening of wine shops in residential areas on Wednesday.
Witnesses said that scores of people including women and children staged a protest in the city’s Shakti Nagar area and against the administration.
The protesting residents said the proposed shop is next to a residential apartment, which houses three families, the majority of them female members.
“We are around ten female members living in the house, which has been proposed as a new wine shop, which we will not allow to open at any cost,” said a local.
She added that if we wine shop will open it would be a security issue for the entire locality as boozers may create a nuisance.
Earlier, residents of Gujjar Nagar along with Corporator Ritu Choudhary and Ex-Corporator Rashida Begum hold protests against the government and opposed the opening of a Wine Shop in a residential area.
A similar situation was witnessed in Chowk Chabutra where protesters said that the proposed shop is in a residential area, which as per the locals in close to a temple. They demanded that the Lieutenant Governor should intervene in the matter and direct the concerned department to reallocate the wine shop to some other non-residential area.
“We will not allow the wine shops to open in our residential area”, a senior citizen said.
A similar protest was also held in Pacca Danga, wherein residents also demanded the shifting of wine shops from their residential area to some other location.
“Women, school-going children, and other people feel insecure after the opening of the wine shop in our residential area”, the protesting people said.
If Government intends to open the wine shops then the same should be opened at one place and that too away from the residential areas, the protestors added.
The wine shop is located near a school, so it is not justified to open the wine shop here, a local said, adding that they will continue their protest if wine shops are opened in their areas.
When contacted, Rahul Sharma Excise Commissioner, Jammu Kashmir said, “We have nothing to say on the protests as respective district magistrates have issued No Objection Certificates (NOC) to new license holders.”
On the number of shops opened after the new Excise policy came into existence, Sharma said data has not been compiled yet—(KNO)