MANGALURU: This monsoon saw a steep decline in liquor sales due to incessant rain which resulted in natural calamities and caused tourism to take a hit in Dakshina Kannada (DK) district. The excise department target achievement from April to August in the district for liquor has dropped by 4 per cent, which is down by 9.45 lakh litres of liquor (1.1 lakh cases).Not only DK district, but liquor sales have been hit in Udupi Uttara Kannada , Shivamogga and Karwar distircts as well. Shailaja Kote, excise deputy commissioner, DK, giving out the data, said from April to August, the division (comprising five district) had a target of 34.84 lakh cases of Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) in five districts, but the sale was just 31.12 lakh cases. "In Dakshina Kannada alone, it was short of 1.1 lakh cases of IMFL. "While the entire state has seen a growth of 5.32 per cent, our district and division, in particular Dakshina Kannada, has seen negative growth, which is down by 4 per cent. Usually, every year, liquor sales go up but due to monsoon fury, which hit tourism, the sale of liquor was less this year," she added.According to Kote, 60 per cent of liquor consumers in DK are from the district, while the rest of them are tourists. "The tourist inflow has drastically fallen in the past three months due to floods in Kerala, Kodagu and parts of Mangaluru. The ghats were blocked, which affected connectivity," she added.Another factor that affected sales was low agricultural activities, no brisk fishing activities and ban on sand mining . The sale of liquor during Onam celebrations was also poor. Kote said liquor worth Rs 1 crore is sold during Onam from shops in the Karnataka-Kerala border."Around 2,000 indents are generated every year, but this year due to floods, it was reduced to 600. Even the hotels in DK have suffered a major blow due to the natural calamity. In August, the state achieved 73.86 per cent of its target, but DK achieved only 68.63 per cent of its target," she said.

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