Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has said that the state government has decided to ban liquor consumption in public places soon. The CM added that the government would issue a notification regarding the same by next month.
"If someone wants to drink (liquor), they should drink inside and not in public places. In the next 15 days, I will hold meetings with government officials to ban the consumption of liquor in public places," Parrikar said at a 'Swachch Bharat' function in the state capital.
The Goa CM also added that the government will impose fines or cancel licences of liquor shops that allow people to drink near the shops.
"Liquor shops will face the music if people are found drinking in the open spaces near the shop," Parrikar said, while adding that people sit along roadsides drinking alcohol and break the bottles on the road.
The Goa government, last year, had amended the Excise Duty Act, 1964, to impose penalties on people drinking in select public places identified as 'No Alcohol Consumption Zones' and on beaches.
The state police, this year, began a crackdown on people who were found drinking in public place. Authorities have also made several arrests regarding the same over the past months.
Goa government, earlier this month, also said that they may forbid tourists from entering into the sea after sunset, owing to the rising number of drowning cases in the state.
The upcoming rule is an offshoot of an advisory issued by Goa's tourism department on September 9. The rule forbids tourists under the influence of alcohol from entering the sea.
"The government has taken serious cognizance of the recent deaths that have occurred due to tourists venturing into the sea after sunset and under the influence of alcohol," the advisory read.
The tourism department had said the process to make it a law has already been initiated.
