Restaurant owners said the impact has been even more severe in local bars with loss of revenue by over 50 percent. [break]
Tejendra Shrestha, president of Restaurant and Bar Association Nepal (REBAN), umbrella organization of restaurants and bars in the country, said the business on average is down by 40-50 percent in local restaurants.
Metropolitan Traffic Police Division (MTDP) began taking action against drunk drivers since December 2, which includes arresting and slapping penalty of Rs 1,000. Ganesh Raj Rai, chief of MTDP, said they have taken action against 2,000 offenders, so far.
Restaurant owners said threat of being caught by police has forced even social drinkers to stay away from restaurants. Prakash Pandey, MD of Thamel-based J Bar, said arresting people for drinking even a sip by smelling is not justified. The bar, which receives over 80 percent local clients, is losing more than 50 percent of regular revenue these days. “People have started organizing parties at their homes rather than coming outside and enjoying at bars these days,” he added.
The impact is no less in popular food joints either. Chairman of Mela Restaurant at Lainchaur Pramod Kumar Jaiswal said his business has been hit hard ever since the drive against drunken driving has begun in Kathmandu.
He said, “The business was already down because of the cold weather in recent weeks but the current drive has impacted the business most.”
Restaurant owners said they are ready to cooperate with traffic police in maintaining discipline but arresting everyone for smelling alcohol is no solution.
Kishore Pandey, CEO of Cafereena located in Durbarmarg, said drinking two glasses of wine and two pegs of whiskey should be considered normal. “In our restaurant, people drink in limit. Police should take action against drunk people only who create problems and are vulnerable to road accident,” he said.
Cafereena is losing business in the range of 25-30 percent. Pandey said most guests at the restaurant are consuming less amount of drinks with dinner, the sale of food and beverages have gone down in equal measure.
Shrestha suggested that the government should come up with better alternatives like night bus service connecting areas like Thamel and Durbarmarg. “Taxis at night are too expensive to afford. If there is a proper public transport system during the night, it would have been better for public and restaurants too,” he added.
Related story
Infographics: Worst countries for drunk driving
