NE NEWS SERVICE
BENGALURU/AMARAVATI, MAY 5
The 3.0 lockdown announced by the union government began with robust sales of spirit in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and elsewhere in the country. As the tipplers, including women, were seen thronging the standalone liquor shops in Karnataka, while in Andhra bordering Tamil Nadu had attracted hundreds of men violating physical distance norms from across the border. Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu government has also announced opening of state owned stand-alone TASMAC liquor shops in non-containment zones from Thursday (May 7), in spite of pandemic is spreading faster than before.
People crossing the Karnataka-Tamilnadu border for liquor, no Liquor shops opened in #TamilNadu . Alcohol lovers who are crossing the border near Attibele outskirts of Bengaluru. @suvarnanewstv#LiquorShops #LiquorShopsOpen pic.twitter.com/DwEnMbNdy1
— Shashi Shekara 🇮🇳 (@shashi_shekara) May 4, 2020
The Andhra Pradesh government made liquor sales worth Rs 40-crore on the very first day that liquor outlets were reopened after 40 days of lockdown. Liquor stores in the state saw serpentine queues and huge crowds on Monday, violating physical distance norms in many cases. Shops were allowed to open up everywhere except in containment clusters.
The liquor outlets were opened up as part of implementing the relaxed guidelines on lockdown. Of the total 3,468 retail liquor outlets run by the state-owned AP State Beverages Corporation Limited, 2,345 were opened in various districts following the easing of lockdown restrictions by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
Even in the coronavirus hotspot districts like Kurnool, Guntur, and Krishna, a good number of shops were reopened as hundreds of people lined up to purchase liquor, despite the government hiking the rates by 25 per cent.
Official sources said that the Rs 40-crore earned was the single largest revenue accrued to the state government in over 40 days, as income from other sources virtually dried up due to the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown.
On normal days, the daily average liquor sale was to the tune of Rs 65-crore. Given the fewer number of shops opened, the sales were encouraging, an official of the Excise department said. The 25 per cent hike in liquor prices is expected to fetch additional revenue of Rs 4,500- crore per annum.
Technical glitches in computers in government-run liquor outlets reportedly caused an abnormal delay in sales.
In border districts like Chittoor, SPS Nellore, East Godavari, and Krishna, tipplers from neighbouring states of Tamil Nadu and Telangana joined the long queues since Monday morning to purchase liquor.
Similar reports came in from Tada area in SPS Nellore district bordering Tamil Nadu. The crowd was so heavy that at a couple of places the sale had to be suspended to maintain order.
KARNATAKA
Dear Sir, please see the #Karnataka / #Andhra State Liquor Shop Open hours.#COVID2019india Act and rule flying the air in the future days. pic.twitter.com/MhX1U99io7
— Muniyappan R (@_ramachandiran) May 4, 2020
Booze lovers ushered in the resumption of liquor sales in a spirited fashion in Karnataka on Monday thronging the stores hours before shutters went up at several places and made no secret of their celebratory mood.
At the end of the day, the Excise Department said in a statement that 3.9 lakh litres of beer and 8.5 lakh litres of India Made Liquor (IML) were sold on a single day across the state worth Rs 45 crore. At some places, tipplers flocked to liquor shops even before day-break and performed special prayers with flowers, coconuts, incense sticks, camphor, and crackers in front of the stores.
About 4,500 standalone liquor outlets (CL-2 and CL-11 licence holders), which comprise wine stores and those owned by state-run Mysore Sales International Limited, outside containment zones were allowed to be opened from Monday from 9 am to 7 pm with some restrictions. These include customers compulsorily wearing of face masks and maintaining social-distancing with not more than five persons inside liquor shops.
After govt announced opening of liquor shops, man performs Pooja in front of liquor shop in Karnataka's Kolar. pic.twitter.com/g2cxXtqw5N
— Pinky Rajpurohit 🇮🇳 (@Madrassan_Pinky) May 4, 2020
Many customers were indeed well-prepared. At many places, they came with umbrellas, raincoats, newspapers, and books and queued up as early as 3 am. At a liquor shop in Salegame Road in Hassan, the tipplers lighted the traditional lamp and incense sticks, performed ”Aarati” with camphor, and decorated the store with the garland of flowers.
Liquor is good for health, says a 96-year-old woman
With folded hands, they all performed ”special prayers”. In Mandya, the tipplers queued up before Martaanda liquor shop before dawn. An hour before the sales were to resume, a few people burst crackers in celebration. Some tipplers in Belagavi were more enterprising. They went to a liquor store on Sunday night itself, performed special prayers, and placed their ”representatives” in the form of slippers, bags, and stones, in the social-distancing boxes they had drawn so that they don’t have to stand in a queue in the morning. An elderly woman Dakamma was the centre of attraction in Shivamogga. The bent body did not bend the determination of this spirited lady, claimed to be 96-year-old, who was heard saying “liquor is good for health”.
At the taluk headquarters town of Brahmavara in the coastal Udupi district, the queue of the booze lovers was reported to be almost half-a-kilometre. Long queues were seen at liquor stores at Mariyappana Palya and K R Puram, among others, in Bengaluru. The store managers too were no less cautious while dealing with customers in the COVID era.
