Parents complained that the stores were a bad influence on the children, as many of them had taken to drinking after school hours. Many women had also been harassed by drunk men.
Somerville School in Noida, Sector 22
The All Noida School Parents’ Association (ANSPA) met BN Singh, district magistrate (DM) of Gautam Budh Nagar, asking him to relocate two liquor stores within 100 m of Somerville School in Sector 22.
The parents complained that the liquor stores had become a nuisance to both students and the parents who came to pick them up. There were people openly seen buying and consuming liquor near the school. On many occasions, women have faced harassment and lewd gestures from drunk men. It is also not a good influence on students, parents say, as many of them have taken to drinking after school hours.
The liquor stores near Somerville School
K Arunachalam, the general secretary of ANSPA, said, “Last year when our members met the district magistrate, he assured us that the licence of the stores would not be renewed for the same place once they expired in February 2018. But I don’t see him acting on his words.”
As per a Supreme Court order, there can be no liquor store within 100 m of a school.
DM Singh, on his part, told City Spidey that he had asked the district excise inspector to look into it. “If we find that the liquor shops are indeed within 100 m of the school, they will be relocated,” he said.
Meanwhile, in Sector 27, RWA members are also faced with a similar issue. Even they have approached DM Singh for the removal of a liquor store within their residential area.
Rajeev Garg, president of RWA, told City Spidey that he hadn't seen a liquor store in any other residential area. "In fact, no sector allows liquor outlets in its vicinity. Why then should we be made to put up with one?" he said.
