How Kerala’s heritage palace slowly turning into night booze spot

Representative photo

The premises of Kanakakunnu Palace in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram are slowly turning into an unofficial booze zone after dark, with some late-night unusual "sports”. However, the real games here involve flipping empty liquor bottles, hide-and-seek in CCTV blind spots, and early-morning clean-up races by the sanitation team, The New Indian Express reported.

Despite CCTV surveillance, people sneak in with alcohol after dark. Sanitation workers were quoted by The New Indian Express as saying that they have come to expect the same routine every morning: pick up liquor bottles from behind the toilets, near the entrance, and other corners that have now earned the title of ‘well-known hiding spots.’

“They know exactly where the cameras don’t look,” a sanitation staffer was quoted by TINE as saying. “It’s like they’re on a treasure hunt – except the treasure is bad decisions and glass bottles,” he added.

Visitors and residents are calling for immediate action. “I come here for a peaceful walk and end up spotting more brands than a bar menu,” Thomas George, a walker, told TINE. “Maybe it’s time for a new event in the National Games – speed bottle chucking behind toilets,” he added.

Madhu Mohan, a retired forest officer and frequent visitor, was less amused. “Are we waiting for something terrible to happen before acting? It’s embarrassing, especially when tourists come here and see this mess. They’ll think we’re running an open-air pub,” she was quoted by TINE as saying.

Entry to Kanakakunnu is allowed till 9.30 pm, and sanitation staff say it would be easy to control the issue if police simply began checking bags at night. “The offenders are not invisible. They just come when no one’s watching, and they know exactly when that is,” said another staffer.

Senior police officials have since promised tighter night surveillance and renewed efforts to catch those violating public space norms. “Action will be taken,” one official told TINE.