Bengaluru, May 4: Booze lovers ushered in the resumption of liquor sales in a spirited fashion in Karnataka onMonday thronging stores hours before shutters went up at severalplaces and made no secret of their celebratory mood.
At some places, they flocked liquor shops even before day-break and performed "special prayers" with flowers, coconuts,incense sticks, camphor and crackers in front of the stores.
Liquor outlets had been shut in the State from March 25 following the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Excise revenue loss during the period was about Rs 2,500 crore, according to government sources.
About 4,500 standalone liquor outlets (CL-2 and CL- 11licence holders), which comprise wine stores and those owned bystate-run Mysore Sales International Limited, outside containmentzones were allowed to be opened from Monday from 9 am to 7 pm withsome restrictions.
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These include customers compulsorily wearing of facemasks andmaintaining social distancing with not more than five people inside liquor shops.
Many customers were indeed well-prepared.
At many places, they came with umbrella, raincoat, newspapers and books and queued up as early as 3 am.
At a liquor shop in Salegame Road in Hassan, the tipplers lit the traditional lamp and incense sticks, performed 'aarati'with camphor and decorated the store with the garland of flowers.
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 wentto a liquor store on Sunday night itself, performed special prayersand placed their "representatives" in the form of slippers, bags and stones in the "social distancing boxes" they themselves had drawn sothat they don't have to stand in 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 goodfor 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.
They let the customers enter after spraying sanitisers in their hands, and allowed only those who hadworn masks and maintained social distancing.
To maintain law and order, authorities had deployed policemen in good numbers at these stores and they were seen on duty ensuring that customers maintained social distancing.
Addressing presspersons in Vijayapura, he said that the report was aimed at defaming the Congress leaders and not to bring out the truth. “The report had several flaws and it was not true. With several lacunae in the report, the government rejected it,” he said.
Comments
This fake guy....Waste body ever i have seen in this World.
I challenge you that i know about Islam more then this Guy...
I request Muslim Scholars please try to Educate him about Islam.
Muslim leaders in congress looting their own community properties.
All politicians all over India already looted Wakf properties. No one is there to ask them.
Nowadays Chaddi gone Trouser came, Linga gone Mr Yeddi and Mrs Shobakka came, Anwaranna why you look worried? be happy looters have already looted and enjoyed, who is not corrupted in this world Anwaranna, looks now you are wearing Chaddi after Trouser bit difficult!!! do not worry we will see some other options, Wakf property's Next term for your goons, terms and terms, but looters and Criminals same like RSS Goondas, no changes.
Enjoy Anwaranna, you collected false documents some one then how can you prove???
Jai Hindustan
Jai Siddanna.
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