Sale of liquor dropped by 40%, beer by 78% in last 27 months

Nellore: Vallamreddy Lakshman Reddy, chairman of the Alcohol Prohibition Awareness Committee, claimed that the sale of liquor had fallen by 40 per cent and beer by 78 per cent in the last 27 months because of the removal of belt shops and placing restrictions on the timing of liquor sale.

Speaking to the media at the office of the Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) in Kavali on Monday, Lakshman Reddy said there were 4,408 liquor shops in June 2019 which had been brought down to 2,975.

“Earlier, liquor shops used to be run for 18 hours a day with an eye on profits. Now shops are open between 11 am an 8 pm,” Lakshman Reddy stated.

He said 3.12 crore cases of liquor were sold between in 12 months between October 2018 and September 2019, and the number came down to 1.72 cr cases for the same duration.

He said the would study the implementation of prohibition in Gujarat, Bihar, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Lakshadweep to accept best practices in the state.

Referring to the illegal transportation of liquor from other states to AP because liquor had become costlier, Lakshman Reddy appealed to the people to call toll-free number 14500 to alert the SEB if they came across such incidents.

He called for the participation of representatives of local bodies, volunteers, staff of village secretariats, women self-help groups, and women police in the campaign against the consumption of liquor.

Later, Lakshman Reddy submitted details of their campaign against alcohol during the last 22 months to Deputy Chief Minister K. Narayana Swamy, the excise minister, during a programme here.