Delhi-ites flock to wine shops despite 70% tax hike; social distancing norms go for a toss

Even after Delhi Government levied 70% tax on liquor in national capital, people continued to queue up in front of wine shops early on Tuesday morning. India entered third phase of lockdown on Monday and citing an acute decline in revenue, Chief Minister Kejriwal in a press conference anunced that government-approved liquor shops will open in n-effected zones across Delhi.

Impatient buyers forgot to follow rules

tably, liquor and petrol are two commodities which comprise a huge share of revenue collected by government. Following lockdown, which was implemented across country on March 25 amid COVID-19 scare, sale of liquor and tobacco was strictly prohibited amid or restrictions.

Wine shops opened after over a month on Monday and enthusiasts from across national capital turned up at stores to fill in ir stocks. scene at various locations soon turned dire soon as impatient buyers forgot to follow rules set by government amid Coronavirus pandemic.  

similar situation was witnessed on Tuesday. Republic TV which reached wine shops in Bengali market area in central Delhi and Filmistan area in rth Delhi saw a sea of people crowding in front of wine shops. Social distancing rms were flouted, several of m were t even wearing masks. 

Queues, stretching over a kilometre were seen at wine shops. In a situation full of ruckus and chaos, police personal deployed on duty had to resort to lathi-charge to bring in decorum. Meanwhile, in shop in Central Delhi, cops were forced to shut shop after people refused to fall in line.

All this comes as Delhi inches towards 5000 mark in terms of COVID-19 positive cases. So far 64 deaths have been reported from national capital. All eleven districts of Delhi have been put under red zone. re are 97 containment zones in national capital which has most number of COVID 19 cases after Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. 

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lockdown has severely hit ecomy. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday last week had asserted that people will have to learn to live with COVID-19. Sharing statistics, he highlighted that a decline of around 90% was witnessed in terms of revenue collection in Delhi. Following which he anunced several relaxations to bring ecomy back on track. Sale of liquor is one of m.

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(Representative im: PTI)