May 11: What India did on April 1, Barasat did today: follow the Supreme Court ban on sale of alcohol within 500m of any highway.

Bars and liquor shops, which were operating till yesterday, have shut up shop and the closure is permanent, excise officials said.

Eight liquor shops and bars in the town that has the district headquarters are within 500m of NH12 and NH112.

"The owners of liquor shops and bars have been asked to shut down their outlets permanently," an excise official in Barasat said today.

"They had been given time and asked to shift their businesses. But we are not giving any further breathing period," the official said.

After an initial "dry run" since the countrywide ban kicked in on April 1, liquor outlets in the town on the city's northern fringe returned to business on April 6 evening.

Owners had told Metro then that excise officials had given them a verbal go-ahead. Later, they said the officials had told them that April 30 was the deadline to shift business.

Metro reported on Tuesday that bars and liquor shops were doing business as owners had been given a fresh deadline.

Excise officials had said all 40 bars and liquor shops in the Barasat sub-division were given a "breathing period" to find a place to shift their business.

"We allowed them to run the business. The apex court ban came into effect on April 1... we have decided not to give any further extension," an excise official said today. "Allowing them to run could amount to contempt of court."

The owner of a liquor shop near the Dakbungalow crossing said he shut down his shop around 10pm yesterday.

"Excise officials told me and the other owners that we won't be allowed to run our shops from today. They said the closure was permanent," the owner said.

Only five outlets in the rural areas remain unaffected by the apex court ban.

The Barasat sub-division sees monthly sales of about 50,000 litres of alcohol, according to excise records.