Opening of liquor vends in AP leads to chaos, govt nets Rs 40cr

Chaos erupted across the state of Andhra Pradesh when people lined up outside liquor shops, ignoring physical distancing norms. The state govt had allowed the sale of liquor as part of implementing the relaxed guidelines on lockdown but pegged the sale at Rs 40 crore.

Amaravati: The opening of liquor vends in Andhra Pradesh on Monday as part of implementing the relaxed guidelines on lockdown led to chaos with people lining up outside liquor shops, ignoring physical distancing norms as government pegged the sale at Rs 40 crore.

Of the total 3,468 retail liquor outlets run by the state-owned AP State Beverages Corporation Limited, 2,345 were opened in various districts following easing of lockdown restrictions by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.

Even in the coronavirus hotspot districts like Kurnool, Guntur and Krishna, a good number of shops were re-opened as hundreds of people lined up to purchase liquor despite the government enhancing the rates by 25 per cent.

A report from SPS Nellore district that one person collapsed and died of sunstroke while waiting to buy liquor at Podalakuru village, but the Superintendent of Police Bhaskar Bhushan denied any such incident.

"Nothing of that sort happened in my district, he told reporters over phone. Technical glitches in computers in government-run liquor outlets caused an abnormal delay in sales.

In border districts like Chittoor, SPS Nellore, East Godavari and Krishna, tipplers from neighbouring states Tamil Nadu and Telangana joined the serpentine queues since Monday morning to purchase liquor. The crowd was so heavy that at a couple of places the sale had to be suspended to maintain order.

The Group of Ministers was to meet on Monday to take decisions on how to implement the Centres new guidelines on relaxing the lockdown, but it was abruptly cancelled. Though the Medical and Health Department issued a Covid Instant Order 43 late on Sunday night on implementing the Centres new guidelines, they have not apparently percolated to the districts as all restrictions were in place on Monday.

Shops even outside the (Covid-19) containment zones remained shut while police put up barricades on all main roads blocking the movement of traffic.

Even with respect to liquor shops, despite clear instructions from the Chief Ministers Office, some District Collectors did not issue corresponding orders due to which police did not allow the outlets to open at the stipulated time (11 am), though people queued up before them from 10 am. Of the 3,500 shops in the state, only about 313 were opened till noon in various districts, as per the report prepared by the Excise Department.

In some districts, the liquor shops were finally opened after 1 pm, but there was no order due to heavy crowds. As the state government issued an order after Sunday midnight enhancing the liquor rates, the computation of new prices in the systems did not happen, resulting in chaos. Also, scanning the price tag proved to be a slow process, causing a delay in sales.

Such complaints were received from districts like Visakhapatnam, Chittoor and SPS Nellore.

At Yetapaka in East Godavari district, people from Telangana joined the queues outside the shops as sale of liquor did not resume in the neighbouring state.

At Palasamudram in Chittoor district, reports here said, people from Tamil Nadu came in hordes to purchase liquor, forming a mob.

At the behest of Tamil Nadu authorities, the AP officials suspended liquor sale here to restore order. Similar reports came in from Tada area in SPS Nellore district bordering Tamil Nadu.

The two liquor outlets here were shut because of the unprecedented rush.

Of the total 195 liquor vends in SPS Nellore district, 14 were closed down because of overcrowding, official sources here said.

We are waiting for clear inputs on the number of shops opened in different districts today.

In some districts, shops could not be opened because the Collectors did not issue appropriate orders, a top Excise official said.

Official sources said that the Rs 40 crore earned was the single largest revenue accrued to the state government in over 40 days as income from other sources virtually dried up due to the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown.

Only in Prakasam district, not a single shop out of the 280 was opened following instructions from the Collector, a senior Excise official said.

In normal days, the daily average liquor sale was to the tune of Rs 65 crore.

Given the less number of shops opened, the sale today was encouraging, the official pointed out.

The 25 per cent hike in liquor prices is expected to fetch an additional revenue of Rs 4,500 crore per annum.

"But we have lost close to Rs 3,000 crore of income because of the lockdown so far," the official said.

PTI