After back and forth with the Centre, Maharashtra decides to open standalone liquor stores outside of containment zones
People wait in a long queue to buy groceries outside a shop in Andheri. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
Revising the COVID-19 lockdown guidelines further, the state government has allowed stand-alone liquor shops to reopen in Mumbai and its metropolitan areas from Monday.
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However, shops in the demarcated containment zones in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), will remain shut. Permit rooms and restaurants serving alcohol have not been allowed to operate.
The order for liquor shops also applies to Pune Metropolitan Region and other red zones. The shops will have to comply with strict measures such as social distancing.
The local authorities like municipal chiefs and district collectors have been tasked with deciding the number of shops in each area for preventing mass gathering.
This information is subject to guidelines/conditions in the state government's notification dated 02.05.2020. Imaging/Uday Mohite/Suhas Kale
Sources said the state government has convinced the Centre despite national restrictions on non-essential business in red zones.
The Centre was told red zones had non-containment clusters that were unaffected. Liquor production and sale will also replenish the state's depleted coffers.
Several ruling leaders and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray have been demanding the opening of liquor shops for revenue's sake.
Alcohol retail shops will be open from 10 am to 6 pm. Only sealed (bottled) liquor is allowed to be sold. The shops will have to work on 50% staff strength and the employees will have to be tested for body temperature and other symptoms.
Liquor factories, which give maximum revenue on site, have also been allowed to start production. Thermal screening of staff and access control will be required.
In addition, urban standalone shops selling non-essential commodities like clothes, footwear, stationery, electronic and electrical/domestic appliances will be opened in non-containment zones, but only 5 shops will operate in one lane/street. Spas, barber shops and salons will not open in red zones.
"Medical shops and and grocers will not have a five-shop restriction and no restrictions on business hours," said Bhushan Gagrani, principal secretary, in-charge of media relations for COVID-19 mitigation plan.
Travel by air, train and metro, inter-state road movement, opening of educational institutions, hotels and malls, places of worship and large gathering will not be allowed anywhere.
However, goods supply will not be affected. Industry with access control and urban industry have been allowed in orange and green zones.
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