PANAJI: Slamming the out-going Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) goverment for its inaction over the shutting down of bars and wholesale liquor vendors along the state and national highway, as per the Supreme Court's directives, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) on Friday alleged that the Laxmikant Parsekar government was trying to kill the tourism sector, too.Around 3,000 liquor outlets, out of the total 11,000 operating in the state, face shutdown as the Supreme Court has put a ban on all alcohol shops within 500m of national and state highways across the country from April 1."This is a question of livelihoods of several people. We already have problems after the BJP government's closure of mining, and industry is on a downward trend. We cannot allow this (closure of liquor retail outlets and bars along the higways)," GPCC president Luizinho Faleiro saidThe Supreme Court, hearing a case pertaining to the Haryana government, has asked states and union territories not to renew licences after March 31, 2017. All bar and restaurant licenses selling liquor expire on March 31 and are then put up for renewal on April 1. This time around, the state government has maintained that they will not renew licences of shops and bars within 500m of national and state highways across the state."Goa is a different. We don't have reckless drinking and driving except for few stray incidents," Faleiro said.The excise department has already started identifying bars and wholesale liquor establishments so that their licences can be suspended by March 31. Showcause notices have also been sent, industry stakeholders said.

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