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
Ache din ki maa ki aur Modi ki .....
Modi visits all country for yoga publicity.
Why he is silent on protecting cows(hindu god) in foreign country ?
RSS and all hindu Groups should approach foreign country to stop killing their Gods, If foreign country rejects their proposal then they should take actions to boycott foreign goods.
Is there any man in RSS or Hindu group to stop killing of Hindu God in the world ?
Impotent people can bark in their boundary only with their hired media.
After all God is more important than Yoga.
WHO ARE THE JUDGES?
NOW A COW IS SAFE THAN A HUMAN BEING.
AMERICA imports and eats hindu god daily. Why modi is silent on this issue ?
He should approach other country to protect hindu god. Which is weaker by nature.
Impotent justice from impotent people. Expecting justice from idol worshipper is totally wrong.
Kabir Meat exporting company is run by RSS people. It kills millions of Hindu God daily.
Why there is no FIR against them?
Modi has given subsidy to kill hindu god.
If the did kill a cow they do deserve punishment , Did modi make him kill a cow ?
This is called justice....?
Modi Government is trying to get these murderers out from the jail to use them in the upcoming election in Uttar Pradesh....what a tragedy...there is no value for human kind...no humanity left in this country...by hook or crook these crooks want to rule the country....
HEADS UP TO OUR INDIAN LAW,
ACCHE DIN KI CHAMATH KAAAR...
Delay tactics to Justice, so grieved family get fed up by this way...common ppl loose confidence on law system in our country
Why there is no FIR against Sangeet Som who is killing cow every day and exprting under Al Anam and other company name? Can the activists and govt take any action against this guy?
What a joke yar,,,,,,this is the stupid RSS and BJP
A big Joke of the year
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