Women agitate for removal of liquor shop on Akiveedu-Cherukumilli road

Akiveedu: Villagers, especially women from I Bhimavaram under Akiveedu mandal in West Godavari district staged a protest in front of the wine shop on Akiveedu-Cherukumilli road here on Wednesday. As the agitators block road for about two hours, traffic came to a halt.

The protesters alleged that people, especially school girls have been suffering a lot because of presence of the liquor shop close to the road.
They alleged that the officials had delaying the shop removal when they had protested earlier. As there was no action from the authorities, the villagers squatted on the road and raised slogans against the officials.

The protesters did not allow traffic and wanted the officials to take a decision on the removal of the shop. Sub-Inspector Sudhakar Reddy reached the spot and tried to convince the villagers to give way to traffic.

However, the villagers continue their slogans and explained problems with the liquor shop. They informed the police official that girls from Cherukumilli, Mandapadu, Kavatavanigudem and other villages use the road to go to schools and return home.

Because of the presence of the liquor shop, the girls were troubled by the drunkards. Moreover, a number of road accidents were taking place on the road at the liquor shop. While many died in accidents, a few others sustained injuries in the mishaps, they informed.

When the agitators insisted on instant solution to the problem, tension prevailed for some time. When the police informed the matter to excise officials, Circle Inspector R Jayaram Satish reached the spot and started consultation with the agitators.

He assured them to bring the issue to the notice of the higher authorities who would take an appropriate action, he promised.

The agitators threatened the excise official to intensify agitation and destroy the liquor shop if their problem was not solved within a week.