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
Dear Dsouza, Jesus is not a God infact he is the messenger of God like prophet Mohammad.
Worship only the creator, and respect his creations.
Honest people should realize , this tactics (Out of context) has been using by the HATER of HUMANITY to demonize the Innocent people of the earth for long time... and people are recognizing it and understood the real terrorist of our society..
Do not accept Islam because he said first know for yourself what Islam is and what it teaches
We all need peace & Lord Jesus promised it to those who believe on him.
Understanding our creator and obey him alone is the message of islam
Underdtanding our creator and worship him alone is the message of Islam
Context or out of context. But it true.
Even scientists could not disagree.
Many scientists too embraced islam.
Quran speaks about science long years ago. This is definitely word of God.
Most of the cheddis are expert in spreading their lies by providing out of context messages to public... If the public is not Alert, they can Fool even the intelligent...people of India...
Since this govt came... they have fooled many and if people still dont understand their evil ways and follow blindly ... its not far that they will not shy away to fool you too... (just like they killed their own Bjp member in the name of Cow recently...
Send jobless goons learnt editing....may be from Singapore or Thailand....
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