Hotels in Shiggaon taluk of Haveri district have sustained heavy losses due to the liquor ban on state and national highways.
Bangalore, March 1, 2018: The ban of liquor stores 500 metres off state and national highways has caused heavy losses to hotels in Shiggaon Taluk.
B.Raidu, the Manager of Garuda, the biggest hotel in Shiggaon taluk, says that the hotel incurred 50 per cent loss this year. “The ban has severely affected our business. We were helpless after the ban. Many people lost their jobs,” he said. About 40-45 workers got sacked in Garuda.
The nearby Panchavathi hotel also claimed 40 per cent losses.
P. Raghavendra, a waiter at Garuda, said, “People like me rely on this job. The Rs.5-6 thousand I earn sustains my family. If this is taken away from me, I won’t have much choice but to take up harder work like construction.”
G. Ravi, a former waiter at Panchavathi hotel who has set up a shop, said, “I used to work in Panchavathi and was paid well. But when the liquor ban came along and ruined livelihoods, I quit and set up this shop through family support. However, the other workers who were with me are suffering.”
Vinay Huraliluppi, a journalist who works for Vijayawania Kannada newspaper, said, “The highway liquor ban did affect the hotel business to some extent. But, things will be better now that the ban has been lifted. Business will recover. That aside, there is road construction going on right now and the two main hotels in Shiggaon: Panchavathi and Garuda, will have to endure losses a little longer due to that as it’s an arterial highway which many tourists take.”
