Standalone liquor shops reopen in Bengal; several shut down due to chaos

Standalone liquor shops in West Bengal reopened on Monday in green, orange and red zones, except in containment areas, but the police closed down several of them within an hour as people started jostling with each other in front of the outlets with social distancing going for a toss.

The state government in a guideline said only standalone OFF shops selling foreign, IMFL, and country spirits will remain functional and not 'ON' shops.

It also stated that only those customers wearing masks will be sold liquor and social distancing norm has to be strictly followed. There should be a distance of 6 feet between two customers in the queue.

The authorities also asked the licensees to provide hand sanitizer to customers at the time of transaction.

Customers were seen waiting in queues outside liquor shops. But the moment the shops opened shutters, they started elbowing one another in many places such as Dumdum in North Kolkata leading to chaos.

"Police had to come to maintain law and order in front of the shop and ultimately closed it down. Several other shops were also shut down by them," one of the licensees said.

"I came here to buy liquor knowing the shop will remain open till 6 PM. But I noticed that the shop has been closed down by police to maintain law and order," Debabrata Roy of Dumdum said.

There was also confusion over timing. Initially, the government guideline allowed shops to stay open from 10 AM till 6 PM, but later the duration was changed from 3 PM to 6 PM. A subsequent order said the outlets will be closed at 7 PM.

"As per the latest order, the shops will open at 12 noon from tomorrow," the licensee said.

The government disallowed liquor outlets located in shopping complexes to reopen. Beer pubs, clubs, restaurant- cum-bars and hotel-restaurant-cum-bars will remain closed.

The government also encouraged home delivery of liquor to minimise footfall at the shops.

"We are happy that we got a proper order from the government," West Bengal Foreign Liquor, OFF, ON, and Country Spirit Hotel Owners Association Gautam Mukherjee told PTI.

The order allowed the display of MRP of bottles outside shops and it will help licensees sell their old stock at new prices, he said.

In an apparent bid to shore up revenues, the West Bengal government last month decided to impose 30 per cent sales tax on wine and beer. The duty would be applicable to the existing stock.