Hyderabad: In wake of tragic death involving eight-year old Ramya due to rash driving by drunken youth aged below 21 years, the Telangana government has decided to crack a whip against pubs, bars and restaurants on sale of liquor. The Excise department is thinking of having more teeth to the existing so as to impose strict punishment to establishments that serve liquor to under-aged in violation of rules.

Besides imposing a hefty fine, imprisonment of owner is one of the proposals before the department. A similar act is being enforced in Kerala and officials would be exploring possibilities of implementing here. As of now department is imposing Rs 1 lakh fine for bar owners serving liquor to minors. Surprise checks, installation of CCTVs inside the premises are some of the new measures that Excise department is learnt to have decided to control this problem.

Senior officials of Excise department hinted that from hereon they would be conducting special drives to check sale of liquor to under-aged persons. “Earlier the department focused mostly on curbing sale of illicit liquor. But, henceforth we will be going on an overdrive to tackle this problem,” an official said.