No high' way, CBD's got a highway

Bengaluru: The Pub City without pubbing and the Central Business District without the late-night fun and frolic! Bengalureans might as well kiss their nightlife a goodbye.

With over 600 watering holes on M.G. Road, Brigade Road, Church Street and in Indiranagar and Koramangala facing closure once the Supreme Court order banning liquor vends within 500 metres of National Highways kicks in from June 30, shocked Bengalureans ask which archaic rules were referred to while classifying these roads as National Highways.

Mr Srinivas Gowda, owner of Pecos Pub on Church Street, regrets that the state government did not act fast enough, though the Supreme Court order was more than a year old. "The state government should have acted last year. It has now suddenly realised that MG Road and Brigade Road are listed as national highways and we have been given just a week's time to relocate," he lamented.

It's estimated that around 98 to 100 pubs and bars around Brigade Road, MG Road and Church Street will likely shut if the Excise Department enforces the ban. Roughly, some 2,000 people will be unemployed from June 30, he said.

Owners of pubs and bars are considering filing a petition of their own before the court. "We are in talks with a few associations to file a petition. But we are also waiting for the government to denotify the stretch of highway along M.G. Road," said Mr Shravan of Smaaash Pub on M.G. Road.

Besides the owners and employees of pubs, those who have for long entertained their customers with comedy or other shows in the heart of the city are also likely to take a hit.  "The shutting down of any pub is a huge loss to the entire industry. Not just comedy shows, but live music shows too will be hit," said Mr Kritartha Srinivasan, who has been part of the stand-up comedy industry for the last six years.