Wednesday, 04 January 2023 | Karan Khurana | HARIDWAR
Liquor is prohibited in Haridwar city but consumers on its outskirts and other parts of the district consumed a record – breaking quantity of alcohol on New Year’s eve and the first day of this year. According to officials, alcohol worth Rs three crore was sold from licensed liquor outlets on December 31 and January 1 in the district.
Haridwar is famous as a pilgrimage centre associated more with religious and spiritual activities. Liquor is prohibited in the city but this did not stop people on its outskirts and elsewhere in the district from celebrating the advent of 2023 with considerable quantities of liquor. The district registered a record rise in the sale of liquor during the transition from one calendar year to the next.
Haridwar’s district excise officer Prabha Shankar Mishra said that during the new year, about 30,000 Indian Made Foreign Liquor bottles and 28,000 country liquor bottles were sold in Haridwar district. The estimated cost of the liquor sold during the two days- December 31 and January 1- is about Rs three crore. There are a total of 130 licensed liquor outlets in the Haridwar district. Out of these, more sales have been registered in the outlets in Roorkee and Haridwar areas compared to Laksar.
