Thiruvananthapuram: Backtracking from its long-pending proposal to start a premium beer parlour at Technopark , Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC), instead, has decided to establish a sports bar , a hangout for techies to enjoy coffee and snacks while watching sporting events on TV."We have opted out of starting a beer parlour and instead would come up with a sports bar at Technopark in three months' time," KTDC managing director R Rahul told reporters here on Thursday. TOI, last November, had reported about city corporation's refusal to grant 'no objection certificate' (NOC) for the beer parlour citing moral reasons.Hit by closure of its 29 beer parlours across the state after the Supreme Court verdict banning liquor vends within 500m of highways, the KTDC has also initiated measures to relocate the parlours 'so as to ensure its financial stability'. However, the plan to start the beer parlour as an extension to KTDC's Aahar restaurant and bakery, functioning at the ground floor of Technopark Club House, has now been dropped after stiff opposition from city corporation, it is learnt.In fact, the health standing committee of the corporation had refused to grant the NOC for the beer parlour, meant to cater exclusively to the work force numbering over 48,000 at Technopark. The KTDC had made the proposal in January last year, with facilities for banquets and live music performance on weekends. The committee's decision was presented at the council meeting held on November 18.Denying an NOC for the beer parlour, the committee chairman K Sreekumar had said that it was improper to have a beer parlour where a huge number of people work. Terming the city corporation's stand as a case of 'moral policing' and 'highly regressive', KTDC had been pushing for the project since then.

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