Bhubaneswar, Sept 13: The Odisha government Friday has withdrawn the proposal to serve liquor in shacks on the Puri beach to promote tourism, said a notification issued by the Excise Department.

According to the notification, the government will not allow serving liquor in beach shacks to promote tourism.  The notifications says that sale of liquor will be banned in beach shacks under Puri Municipality.

Also, liquor shops will not be opened in close proximity of any religious institution in other places of the State also. 

In its latest notification, the Excise department said that allowing beach shacks in Puri is not in the interest of preserving the socio-religious-cultural significance of the land of Lord Jagannath. Similarly, there are other places of religious significance within the state, in the vicinity of which beach shacks are likely to create adverse impact on the social- religious-cultural atmosphere.

“Therefore, it is proposed to issue a clarification to the effect that beach shacks will not be allowed in the jurisdiction of Puri Municipality as well as within 5 kilometers of such other places of socio-religious-cultural significance in other parts of Odisha. Such other places may be decided by the government after due deliberations,” the Excise Department’s notification read.

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