Remove wine stores from highway

SHILLONG, MAY 30: PBM Basaiawmoit, senior adviser of Indigenous Biodiversity & Social Welfare Organization (IBSWO), has asked the Meghalaya government to adhere to the national highway advisory issued by the union ministry of road transport & highway and remove all liquor shops along the national highways.

Basaiawmoit said such advisory must be acted upon immediately by the state government. The advisory was sent  by  the  road  transport  &  highway  ministry   (RT &HM)  to  all the states chief  secretaries  directing them to remove  all  liquor  shops  along  the  national  highways  in  the  country  and  not  to  issue  fresh  licenses.

According  to  the  official  reported ,  during  2009 -2011  there  were  82,807  highway  accidents  and  in  2011  alone,  there  were  24,655  road  accidents  and  10,553  fatalities  because of intake  of  drugs  and  alcohol.

Basaiawmoit said it is an  embarrassment  to  be  a  resident  of  Meghalaya, the  so  called  ‘land  of  eternal  charm’, as it greet its visitors after entering Meghalaya with lines of wine stores along the national highway. He said after the  Jarobat  point   crossing  as  one  enters  NH  40  along  the  Meghalaya  side  and  up  to  Byrnihat line of  wine  shops  with  eye-catching  signboards  tries to  tempt  drivers  and  travelers.   and  if one  travels  uphill  after  the  Umtrew  bridge,  wine  shops  with  and  without  signboards  are  interspersed  on the left  and  right sides  of  the  highway.”

Basaiawmoit also pointed out that along  the  Shillong  bye-pass  beginning  from  Umiam – Umeit  via  Umroi,  Bhoirymbong,  Makhanu,  Diengpasoh,  Thangshalai  up  to  Mawryngkneng  where  it  joins   the  Shillong-Jowai  road,  even  before  the  bye-pass  was  opened  to  the  vehicular  traffic,  wine  shops  suddenly sprung up. And traveling  by  NH 44  up  to  Malidor, the same sight greets those who travel through it up to NH  40 and NH-44E  (Shillong-Nongstoin-Tura  Road).

On the light of the overcrowding of wine stores in the national highway Basaiawmoit said the advisory  from  the  centre  to  state  governments  should  be  a  launching  pad  for  state  governments,    autonomous  district  councils,  zilla  parishads,  panchayats,  traditional  institutions,  civil  societies and  religious  institutions  to   move  an  extra  mile  and  beyond  to  put  a  complete  stop  on  production,  transportation  and  consumption   of  alcohol  and  drug intake. He said,“Forget  about  monetary  benefit  through  tax/excise  revenue  and  livelihood  if  they  will  cost  lives,  morality  and  family  break-up.”-By Our Reporter