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Day after May 7 order, TN defers opening of liquor outlets in city

A day after announcing the reopening of liquor shops across the State from May 7 in non-containment areas, the Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday said that Tasmac outlets will not be opened within Chennai police limits till further orders.

Day after May 7 order, TN defers opening of liquor outlets in city
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People outside a liquor shop in Delhi on Tuesday

Chennai

Though the government did not mention any reason for its decision, a senior Tasmac official told DT Next that authorities deferred opening of outlets looking at the spurt of corona cases in the city. The official said of the 300 and more liquor outlets in the city alone, one-third of the shops are located in most COVID affected areas of north and south Chennai. He added that authorities have also found 50% of liquor shops situated near containment areas.

“In addition, the government has also considered the advise of many political parties, which criticised the decision to open Tasmac outlets at a time when corona cases have crossed the 1,700-mark in Chennai,” he said, adding, “the government is expected to announce the opening of liquor shops in a few days after getting a new list of outlets that are not located near the containment area. The announcement may be out on Wednesday.” According to the official’s statistics, as on February 2020, a total of 311 liquor shops located in Chennai and about 200 outlets, situated in suburbs, come under the Police limits of Greater Chennai (Tiruvallur, Chengalpattu and Kancheepuram districts). The official pointed out that preparations, including transferring liquor stocks from depot to outlets will begin from Wednesday morning.

Despite 70% corona fee, queues get longer
NEW DELHI/AMARAVATI: Undeterred by steep price hikes or the urgent need to maintain distance, impatient crowds were back outside liquor vends on Tuesday, pushing and jostling in many places as they sought to lay their hands on a bottle of their favourite tipple.
The scenes played out in towns and rural centres in states such as Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Delhi, just as they did on Monday.
On Tuesday, the Andhra Pradesh government enhanced prices by 50 per cent, over the 25 per cent hike it had imposed the day before. Late on Monday, the Delhi government announced a 70 per cent ‘special corona fee’ on alcohol. Andhra Pradesh Special Chief Secretary (Revenue) Rajat Bhargava said the increase in liquor rates was to ‘discourage’ people from consumption and safeguard health.
In Bengaluru drunken brawls claimed two lives. A man in his mid-thirties was stabbed to death by his friend after an altercation at a party organised to celebrate the resumption of alcohol sale on Monday as part of the easing of lockdown restrictions. In the second incident, a youth was beaten to death by his friend in an inebriated state.

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