Locals dismantle liquor vend, toll tax barrier in Barotiwala

Peeved over the opening of a liquor vend at Khudabax Chowk on the Nanakpur-Kalujhinda link road in the Barotiwala Industrial Area, a group of villagers from Kalujhinda village today vandalised the vend and stopped its operations.

Irate women threw liquor bottles out of the vend set up near the Himachal-Haryana border. The vend was selling country liquor as well as Indian Made Foreign Liquor. Two days ago, the villagers had also dismantled a toll tax barrier erected on the village road.

The residents said the State Taxes and Excise Department (STED) cannot erect a toll tax barrier over the road, which had been constructed by them to gain access to their fields. They had received no compensation from the state government for the road though it was built on their fertile land, they said. They added that the opening of the liquor vend would promote alcoholism among the villagers.

STED Deputy Commissioner Som Dutt Sharma said a sub-vend was opened on the Nanakpur-Kalujhinda link road a few days ago. It was a sanctioned vend, which was vandalised by the villagers today, he said, adding that a complaint would be sent to the authorities over the ruckus created at the site. On the toll tax barrier dismantled by the villagers, he said the barrier was set up as per the state’s toll policy. “The link road was being used as an escape route by multi-axle trucks to evade toll tax of Rs 700 and this was causing loss to the state exchequer. To check this, the barrier was erected two days ago, but the villagers dismantled it before it could become functional,” Sharma said.

He added that the villagers were taken into confidence by the staff concerned before erecting the barrier and they were also issued passes.

The Excise Department staff said people from Haryana were protesting against the barrier as they would have to toll tax for entering Himachal.