Chettichira wants liquor outlet gone

Kochi: A week after shifting of a liquor outlet of the Kerala State Co-operative Consumer’s Federation Limited (Consumerfed), the residents of Chettichira near Ponnurunni has decided to wage a legal battle to close the foreign liquor outlet in a “heavily-congested residential area”.  Not only the elderly couple, 75-year old P M Joseph and his wife Alice, but the staff of the ‘Anganwadi’ there and even the flat owners, have found their lives turned upside down for the last one week.

“Can’t understand why they started an outlet at a heavily-congested residential area like this. The flow of vehicles through the narrow road to both Kathrikadavu and Vytilla directions is high already. Also the sharp turn at Chettichira has put pedestrians at risk. With all this, suddenly a liquor outlet was started in an under-construction building in a hush-hush manner,” rues 75-year old Alice Joseph who stays next to the outlet building.

Customers from far-away places park their vehicles right in front of her house, blocking it. Her husband is bed-ridden and undergoing physiotherapy treatment. The elderly couple often finds themselves trapped by the vehicles parked in front of their house.  Meanwhile, residents of two apartments ‘Lake Terrace’ and ‘Star Park’ decided on March 21to move court against shifting of the outlet which was relocated from Vytilla Junction to comply with a Supreme Court direction to relocate all liquor outlets situated along the national and state highways by March 31.

“We’ve engaged a lawyer. There are around 35 families living in the two apartments. The residential area is already heavily congested and an Anganwadi is functioning right in front of the liquor outlet. They started the outlet in an under-construction building one fine morning though we were told that a shopping complex was coming there,” said a resident of ‘Lake Terrace’ on condition of anonymity. Meanwhile, the cops continued to be deployed in strength in the outlet building to ward of protests by political parties and local residents and to facilitate functioning of the outlet.