In business for over 50 years, Vasco wine sellers see it all going

VASCO: Seventy-three-year-old Gabriel D’Souza who owns a half-a-century-old wine shop named after his mother ‘Cecol’ in Vasco is looking at a bleak future for his Gennext considering the recent SC order banning liquor outlets along the state and national highways.

According to D’Souza, his wine shop business was started by his late father Patrick D’Souza in 1958 and is one of the oldest outlets in Vasco town. He still remembers the pre-liberation era (late 1950’s) when only four such outlets existed in Vasco city and they used to sell imported beer bottles for Rs 2 along with other liquor! 

“Over the years, the number of wine shops/wholesale wine outlets increased in Vasco city but our business was never affected. For 58 years, we have never faced such scare of closing down. I don’t know what to do at this age. How will I provide for my family of four if we have to close down the business as I have always been in this trade and done nothing else,” D’Souza lamented, with teary eyes.

He said, “I think the Supreme Court needs to rethink on its decision on banning liquor outlets as Goa receives a huge number of tourists mainly because liquor is cheap and easily available. But if liquor outlets are shut down, then tourist flow will also decrease and Goa’s economy in entirety will go haywire. We only hope that our state government should come to our rescue before it’s too late.”

Like D’Souza, Isidore Fernandes, 67, who owns ‘Alson agencies-wine shop’ in Vasco is a worried man. His father had started this wine shop in 1945 and since then, they have been happily living on its income. But today, Fernandes is scared as not only he but his staff and their families would also be affected if he has to close shop. “What will I do at this age? I feel the Supreme Court decision will softly kill the families and dependents on the wine business. Government has to come to our rescue as they have been receiving revenue from us,” he told.

Though Vasco is a mini town but thickly populated, and with two National Highways, including NH17A and NH17B, passing through the future of all these wine shops hangs in balance. Surprisingly, data obtained from Mormugao Excise Department has revealed that about 100 wine shops/bar and restaurants exist in Vasco city are within the jurisdiction marked by SC. This has created panic among the wine shop/bar and restaurant operators and people dependent directly or indirectly on this business. Similarly, about 290 liquor outlets in Mormugao taluka would face shutdown due to Supreme Court Order.