Dharna held to protest sanctioning of bars

vijayawada: activists of ap mahila samakhya, affiliated to the cpi, held a dharna in front of the prohibition and excise office at prajasakthi nagar here on tuesday to protest the "indiscriminate" sanctioning of bars and liquor shops in the city. samakhya city secretary p durga bhavani and cpi city secretary k sekhar babu led the dharna. the cpi leaders decried the opening of bars around educational institutions, places of worship and residential areas in spite of objections by the locals.according to them this was vitiating the atmosphere in the city besides leading to an increase in incidents such as eve-teasing and chain-snatching. they demanded that all such bars and liquor shops, which were causing inconvenience to the public be shut down immediately.