Maharashtra, the state with the highest number of Covid-19 cases, allowed liquor shops to reopen even in red zones, outside the containment areas or parts sealed because of high number of infected people, according to a tweet by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
That came after the Ministry of Home Affairs initially said liquor and paan shops will be allowed to function only in green zones. It, however, clarified that these products can be sold in green and orange zones across the nation and red zones of rural areas.
Starting May 4, the centre and states have eased lockdown restrictions district-wise, depending on the number of Covid-19 patients in the district. Full restrictions still apply in containment areas - areas with a high number of patients.
Among states that allowed alcohol sales, Delhi (most of which is a red zone) and Karnataka saw long queues at liquor stores in disregard of social distancing norms. In fact, Delhi had to shut some of those stores, according to reports.
#WATCH: More than a kilometre long queue seen outside a liquor shop at Desh Bandhu Gupta Road in Delhi. pic.twitter.com/LSOoZ3Zzd7
States have been pushing for reopening liquor stores as it's a key source of revenue. More so when a frozen economy has dried other sources of income.
On Sunday, Kantilal Umap, Commissioner, Maharashtra Excise Department, had announced guidelines to reopen liquor stores in the state. These said:
- All liquor shops in rural areas can remain open.
- In the urban areas, liquor stores outside the containment zone can remain open till 5 p.m.
- All the guidelines of social distancing and sanitisation will have to be followed.
- All employees must undergo thermal screening and those who show signs of cold, cough or fever should not be allowed to enter.
- The stores should operate at 50 percent manpower.
According to the guidelines, depending on the situation on ground, district authorities are free to make changes to the norms issued by the excise department. While doing so, they shall not dilute original guidelines of the central and state governments.
Administrations of Solapur, Aurangabad, Jalna, Buldhana and Amravati districts, according to a PTI report, have issued instructions that liquor shops will not be allowed to open.
There's no clarity yet about sale of liquor in Mumbai and Pune, two cities in the state worst affected by the Covid-19 outbreak, and many liquor stores remained close till late in the day. Officials at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation told BloombergQuint on the condition of anonymity that they have not released any special guidelines as of now and will follow state norms to open liquor shops.
Maharashtra, according to the state health ministry's latest data, recorded 678 new cases of coronavirus, taking the total tally to 12,974. The state has 14 red, 16 orange and six green zones as on May 2.
#Bilaspur #Chhattisgarh liquor shop pic.twitter.com/c9KhiaotFg
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