Panaji, Feb 12: The Goa Liquor Traders Association on Saturday formed a 12-member committee to identify the number of liquor retailers and distributors in the state who are affected by the Supreme Court's order seeking the closure of liquor outlets along state and national highways.

The committee will prepare a report and submit the findings within a week, president of the association Datta Prasad Naik said.

Anxious over the outcome of the Supreme Court's order and the state government's apparent apathy, the association held a meeting of 2,000 licenced retailers in Porvorim.

On December 15, a three-judge bench headed by chief justice T S Thakur ordered that licenses of existing bars and liquor retailers located 500m around state and national highways should not be renewed after March 31, a move that is aimed at reducing drunk driving and road accidents that claim thousands of lives every year.

The traders argued that the outgoing Bharatiya Janta Party government was not being "proactive in challenging" the Supreme Court's order and threatened to block highways if they did not get relief.

"If the state government challenges the order on the grounds that the order affects the state financially and socially, the court will have to reconsider its decision. The state has to take a proactive role to challenge the order and pursue the matter seriously," advocate Amit Palyekar who is advising the association said.

Arguing that closure of liquor shops located 500m around state and national highways would not stop drunken driving, the association said that it was not for the traders to regulate driving habits or alcohol consumption.

"The police and the RTO have the responsibility to ensure that people don't drink and drive. The police have to tackle that," Naik said.

Several distributors and industry stakeholders questioned the government's delay, saying that the recent elections could be used by the state administration to plead for more time to study and implement the Supreme Court order.

Close on the heels of the order, the Election Commission announced the election dates for Goa and imposed the election code of conduct which tied the hands of the state government on the matter.

"The state has to file appropriate proceedings to challenge the order, which it hasn't done. The chief secretary can challenge the order since he will be held accountable anyway if the order is not implemented correctly," Palyekar said.