First Day Of Liquor Stores Opening Raises Question About Risk Of More Covid-19 Cases

Day first of the opening of the liquor store saw overcrowding and lack of precautionary measures. It has raised concerns about the emergence of new cases of Covid-19.

New Delhi: A customer carries alcohol after purchasing from a wine shop, during the ongoing COVID-19 nationwide lockdown, at Chander Nagar in East Delhi, Monday, May 4, 2020. A wine shop in the locality was closed soon after opening due to violation of social distancing norms. (PTI Photo/Manvender Vashist)

New Delhi: Since the nation went on lockdown, liquor stores had been closed as only stores that sold essential items were open. On Sunday, it was decided that May 4^th onwards liquor will open for retail sale, videos from around the country reveal that people had been literally waiting for the day as many started queueing up since daybreak at their local liquor store. The protocol was that standalone liquor shops would be allowed to function as long as people followed social distancing norms, but from the photos and videos that surfaced today, people didn’t care about the social distancing norms. According to an IANS report from Delhi, Mohit Gupta, a resident of Malviya Nagar, said that people started gathering outside liquor shops in the main market from as early as 8.30 a.m. "Many were without masks, violating the social distancing guidelines. It might lead to major law and order issues. We expect Delhi Police to take action on this issue," said Gupta. Similar scenes were witnessed in Lajpat Nagar and Lado Sarai area where a large crowd had gathered outside the liquor shops and it even led to a traffic jam in the area. Due to an unmanageable crowd, a liquor shop at Sheikh Sarai Phase 1 had to even pull down its shutters. An ANI report also said that the Delhi Police shut down liquor stores in the eastern range due to the violation of social distancing norms. Reports of overcrowding and lack of social distancing have been flooding from across the countries. And the videos of day one has gone viral. The images of the day have people worried if this is putting the public in danger of contracting the coronavirus. And some RWAs and political leaders have started criticizing the decision of opening liquor stores. According to the report by IANS, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) state chief Kala Venkat Rao said instead of opening liquor shops, the government should open canteens to provide free food to the people going hungry because of the lockdown. Om Prakash Rajbhar, former Uttar Pradesh minister and president of the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP), has also strongly opposed the Yogi Adityanath government's decision to reopen the liquor shops. According to him, the decision to allow liquor sales would also work against the welfare of the poor and downtrodden sections of society and expose them to exploitation. While Delhi’s the Resident Welfare Associations (RWA's) in the city have urged the government to immediately close all liquor vends and review arrangements due to the long queues and chaos saw today. The sudden break of the crowd runs the risk of COVID-19 cases going up as the crowd was not following social distancing norms or personal hygiene rules.