In The First Day Of Bars And Liquor Outlets Reopening, Keralites Drank Alcohol Worth Rs 72 Crore

After remaining shut for nearly two months due to the strict lockdown measures, liquor outlets owned by the state-run Kerala State Beverages Corporation (BevCo) and bars reopened for the public from Thursday.

And what followed was a mad rush - BevCo outlets across Kerala saw a large turn out of customers queuing up to buy liquor.

ANI

At several places, the queues were as long as a few hundred meters. And the best part was they were maintaining social distancing as they patiently waited for their turn.

Happy customers

Many were just happy that the shops are finally open.

"It was tough as I did not have any stock of liquor. Today, I feel some sort of fresh energy and have been waiting for a while in the queue to collect my stock," said a smiling 65-year-old man in the state capital and added all the Covid protocols are being followed as he waved a small bottle of sanitizer and pointed out that the social distance is also being maintained and not to mention he showed that he has two masks.

ANI

"Just see, is there any hustle and bustle or jostling? We will never create any difficulty for us by creating a scene. Our only request is please inform the authorities, that we would like these shops to open on Saturday and Sunday also, which is not going to happen. That's a wrong decision," said a youngster who got one litre of his favourite drink and was rushing back.

According to local media reports on Thursday, the first day of sales resuming BevCo outlets alone sold liquor worth Rs 64 crore in a day.

ANI

In addition to this, the outlet run by Consumer fed saw a business of around Rs 8 crore on the same day.

The total sale of liquor in Kerala on Thursday is likely to go up by a few more crore rupees as the data from bars is not available yet.

Record sales

Even without the sales figures from bars, this is a record of sorts as such demand for liquor is usually seen in Kerala only during festivals.

ANI

The biggest sale was reported from an outlet in Tenkurisi in Palakkad where liquor worth Rs 68 lakhs was sold followed by one in Thiruvananthapuram which sold alcohol worth Rs 65 lakhs.

Across the state, 301 retail liquor vends belonging to the Bevco and Consumer fed, besides 576 bars and 291 wine and beer shops, will be selling liquor.

BCCL

Why not places of worship?

After the government allowed liquor outlets to resume, many religious groups have demanded that places of worship too should be open to the public.

However, Kerala Devaswom Minister K Radhakrishnan on Friday said devotees would have to wait for some more time before places of worship including temples reopen.

He said the government could not announce an exact date right now on the reopening of places of worship and it would depend on a dip in the spread of the virus infection.

"Any rush in temples or other places of worship will result in the increasing spread of the disease. That is why the government is showing utmost seriousness in the issue," he said.