Andhra Pradesh

Andhra liquor shops see huge rush despite hike in prices, physical distancing ignored

In many places across Andhra Pradesh, social distance norms were ignored as people queued up at liquor outlets opening after 40 days.

Written by : Jahnavi

With liquor stores finally opening after 40 days, wine shops across Andhra Pradesh saw long lines with hundreds of people on Monday morning. The state government’s decision to hike prices by 25 per cent did not succeed in discouraging people from queuing up at liquor stores. 

While the shops are allowed to remain open from 11 am to 7 pm, customers had queued up much before the opening timings. 

Videos of long, winding queues from different towns of Andhra Pradesh are being shared on social media, with people pointing out that in most cases, social distancing has been completely ignored.

A video from Chittoor shows police trying to control the crowd in vain, as scores of men stand in a tightly packed line. 

According to the guidelines issued by the state government on Sunday, not more than 5 customers must be allowed at a store at a given time, while maintaining social distance. Five circles were expected to be drawn in front of liquor stores, with a distance of 6 feet between two circles. 

It has directed all the retail liquor outlets, run by the state-owned Andhra Pradesh State Beverages Corporation Ltd (APSBCL) to follow social distancing. The sale personnel have been asked to wear face masks and keep sanitisers for use in the shops.

The shops have been asked to display social distancing norms and cause them to be enforced strictly.

In case too many customers showed up, the guidelines say that local police must be informed, and the store may be closed temporarily to maintain law and order, and can be reopened once the crowd is under control and there is no rush. 

Yet, serpentine queues were seen at liquor shops in Krishna, Guntur, Nellore, Visakhapatnam, Chittoor, Anantapur and other districts. At many places, buyers flouted social distancing norms.

Retail alcohol outlets have been allowed to open up in both rural and urban areas, including in the red zones. However, outlets in containment clusters/zones, and those situated in malls, will not be permitted to reopen, officials said.

The state government, which runs the retail liquor business, had increased the prices by 25 per cent to discourage crowding and liquor consumptions, in its move towards alcohol prohibition.

The number of liquor stores, which was earlier reduced from 4,380 to 3,500, is expected to be further reduced in coming days. 

There was chaos at shops as the increased prices were not updated online, resulting in delay in sale transactions.

At a village in Nellore district, women forced the closure of liquor shops. Fearing that large gathering may lead to spread of coronavirus, they pressured the authorities to shut the outlet.

The reopening of liquor shops has come under criticism from main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

TDP president, N Chandrababu took to Twitter to express his disappointment and slammed the government claiming that they didn't have a contigency plan. "Shocked to see today’s scenes at #LiquorShops in Andhra Pradesh. Common sense says that people will throng in large numbers, but there is no contingency plan from @ysjagan nor is there a care for social distance. This comes amidst the steep rise in #Covid19 cases in AP" 

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.

"The government is treating liquor shops as if they are medical shops," he said.

The liquor shops were reopened even as Andhra Pradesh continued to report a high number of COVID-19 cases every day. It registered 67 new cases during the last 24 hours, taking the tally to 1,650.

IANS inputs

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