'Liquor and meat will not be allowed in religious towns near pilgrimage centres'; applicable in 68 taluks

BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh government has decided to ban the consumption of liquor and meat in religious towns located on the banks of the Narmada River. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has already directed officials in this regard. The Chief Minister also directed the officials to take necessary steps to give more importance to the protection of the environment in the region.

The government had earlier decided to take steps to ensure that the flow of the Narmada River is not disrupted. Following this, a meeting of the cabinet committee was convened. The chief minister gave the special instructions after this.

Chief Minister Mohan Yadav also suggested that sewage should not be discharged into the river, no construction should be carried out at its source point in future, satellite city should be built, works should be implemented in a time-bound manner, help of advanced technologies should be sought for solid waste management, all mining activities using machinery should be stopped and satellite and drone surveillance should be used for observations related to environmental protection.

Out of the total length of 1312 km of the Narmada River, 1079 km flows through Madhya Pradesh. There are 1138 villages and 68 taluks in 21 districts of the state. There are 430 ancient Shiva temples and two Shakta pithas in the area where the sale of meat and liquor is banned.