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.
Comments
2 Decade back I visited Haji ali Darga just to see what is going on. There is a Masjid in the tiny island adjustacent to Darga. People of all faith are visiting the Darga offer prayers and chadar etc. Most ladies visiting this Darga are prostitutes of Mumbai Redlight Area and aslo I saw they are spreading their hair on the Darga for unknown reason. Its pity to note men also visit the Darga but when the prayer was called hardly there are few people in the Masjid.
Darga or Shabarimala cannot be compared, but visiting Darga is out of Islamic Sharia. There is no speciality in visiting Darga and do not have any importance. Offering prayers at Masjids has more significance.
Whoever puts his trust on other than Allah then he is not believing in one true god.
Our so called Mullas are allowing ladies to visit Darghas whereas they are restricted to Masjid for offering Namaz.
Here Haji Ali Dargha trust refused entry of ladies and the public filed a petition in the court to allow ladies entry in to this Dargha. Our so called Imams of the Masjids should teach the muslim community to offer 5 times regular namaz on priority than visiting dargha.
Flatten it to the ground
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