Women on Tuesday warned officials that they would forcefully remove the Tasmac outlet at Iduhatti in The Nilgiris, if they do not do it within 20 days.
Residents of seven villages/housing colonies staged a protest in front of the liquor outlet in Iduhatti demanding that the shop be closed. They blocked the Ooty-Kothagiri road at about 7.30 a.m.
The State Government that had closed 500 liquor shops across Tamil Nadu and 31 in The Nilgiris district should have closed the one in Iduhatti village too.
They said that that the residents of Iduhatti, Trichikadi, Belmin Adda, Periyar Nagar and Bharathi Nagar had for long demanded that the shop be closed as it affected the 700-odd families living there.
The men took to drinking pretty early in the day, spent their wages on liquor, and the presence of a number of tipplers throughout the day caused unease among women who walk through the place.
In the evenings, girls who returned home after school or tuition were also affected.
There had been a few deaths due to liquor as well.
After persuasion from the officials, the residents gave up blocking the road but prevented the opening of the shop for the day.
Traffic that had remained blocked for over two hours resumed.
The residents said they would not let the shop function.
After negotiations by the officials and the promise that they would take action in 20 days – either shift the shop or close it – the residents relented and dropped their protest.
