Last Call! Pubs on MG Rd, Brigade Rd- Bengaluru to close on July 1
Mangaluru: All you beer guzzlers who have been sipping on the cold ones at the pubs and bars located on the famous party roads namely MG Road, Brigade Road, Church Street- will have to count down your last happy hours, since all these pubs/bars located on the stretch of these roads will soon pull down their shutters for good, due to the Supreme Court ruling on selling alcohol on national highways- and unfortunately these streets fall under the ban. These two roads are frequent haunts of the young and thirsty – housing pubs like Pecos that are over two decades old, and have earned Bengaluru the tag of ‘Pub City.’
On realizing the peculiar illegality, the National Restaurant Association of India’s (NRAI) Bengaluru Branch, has approached the state government to get them out of the crisis. Even the Karnataka Cabinet had decided to de-notify all stretches of highways that pass through urban areas. However, this didn’t help the pubs on these two roads. The Karnataka Public Works Departments had told the association that they cannot de-notify the two roads as the state doesn’t have the authority to de-notify national highways. In the meantime, there is a lot of ambiguity on what roads are national highways. Kind of confusing for many pub and bar owners here.
During the last long weekend bunch of us took a trip to the Garden City, so that we could have the last revelry time at some of our favorite watering hole destinations on MG Road and Brigade Road, two of Bengaluru’s most happening places located in the heart of the city, which are set to go dry in the next four days. The reason? Ancient records dug up by the city municipality categorize the two as national highways. So most of the malls, hip pubs, lounge bars and even fine-dining restaurants that serve liquor along MG Road and Brigade Road now fall foul of the 500-metre rule imposed by the Supreme Court. So Bar/pub hopping on MG Road, Brigade Road, Church Street- with one mug/glass/pint of beer here and one there- in 24 hours we patronized quite a few of the popular hangout joints namely- Hard Rock Cafe, Skyye, Blue Frog, Pecos, WYT Restro Pub, and Cafe Mojo Pub and Bistro- and we all found out from the stewards, that all these establishments will be shut down soon.
All was well until June 20 till the time bar and wine store owners thought the Supreme Court rule could not affect them since they were in the central business district. A report sent to the deputy commissioners of excise of various zones on June 20, however, changed this. Suddenly these 600 and odd establishments, which fall within 500 m of the national highways are now facing the threat of closure from July 1. Sources reveal that according to the circular from the Public Works Department, the National Highway 7 (Ballari Road via Mekhri Circle) and National Highway 4 (via M.G. Road and Old Madras Road) start from the General Post Office (GPO), in the heart of the City, have not been reclassified as municipal roads.
While about 120 establishments are set to be affected in East Zone, that includes Indiranagar, about 150 establishments will be affected in the South Zone, including those in Koramangala. Both zones host some of the most popular watering holes in the city. Similarly, establishments will be affected in other zones too, adding that the numbers could be at least 600, as per sources. A Manager at a Pub on Brigade Road said, “Many of the establishments around here have been told they cannot renew their liquor licences that end on June 30 as authorities are just waking up to this anomaly in the city map. Officials at the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike have confirmed that both roads are categorized as national highway according to their records. Hence we will face closure of our prominent pub on this stretch”
Jackson, a Food and Beverage Manager at a high-class Lounge Bar on MG Road said, ” I just moved from Panjim-Goa because of the better prospects here, and salary was pretty good here. A few weeks ago I purchased a 2 BHK flat near to my workplace on a bank loan. Now since my workplace is on the verge of closing down I am totally depressed as to how I am going to manage my family and pay the bank loan. My wife just quit the job since we had a baby recently. What the Supreme Court has done is something very hurtful to all the workforce in the pub, bar and hotel industry which serve liquor. All my hopes are in God’s hand”.
Bengaluru Development Minister KJ George had also said the government will convince the centre to denotify highways. However, liquor vendors feel the government should have acted sooner. G Honnagiri Gowda, president of Karnataka Wine Merchants Association, said the state government wasted time when the Supreme Court passed the order on March 30. Following the top court’s order, 6,015 pubs were slated to close across Karnataka. The state government re-designated 1,476.69km of state highways under urban local bodies and managed to save 3,200. The Karnataka Excise year runs from July 1 to June 30, thus the license renewal process of all pubs has just begun. In the case of these two roads, however, it has come to a complete standstill as the state government too is not sure about how to classify them in the future. Helpless, bar owners are hoping the Centre will pitch in and help, so they can go on with business as usual. But how long this will take is anybody’s guess. Not too long- they are all counting days and have their fingers crossed, as to what would be the outcome-Success or Failure?
So for Bangaloreans, and those who visit the Garden City here’s a small piece of advice: You have about four days left to hang out at your favorite watering holes, so drink up all you want. It may well be the last weekend you fill up to the brink on MG Road, Brigade Road and other pub destinations in the so-called “Pub City”! At least for some time. June 30 midnight may be the “Last Call” to gulp down a few cocktails/beers. Have a few cold ones for me-Cheers!
