Mumbai municipal commissioner Praveen Pardeshi on Tuesday ordered shutting of all non-essential shops, including liquor stores, citing large queues witnessed outside wine shops with customers ignoring physical distancing norms. Alcohol shops in Osmanabad and Latur also had to be closed down due to overcrowding.

Reopening wine shops yielded the State much needed revenue, with the Excise Department reckoning that alcohol worth ₹62.55 crore was sold from 3,543 out of 10,822 licensed shops in the State since Monday. So far, 17 districts have allowed sale of alcohol, while nine districts are yet to permit it.

The State government had allowed standalone shops and essential or non-essential shops in residential complexes to open from Monday in urban areas, excluding the containment zones.

“The number of positive cases in Mumbai is on the rise and the downward trend is yet to set in,” Mr. Pardeshi said. “Gathering of crowds in large numbers without following social distancing will be detrimental to the control of spread of virus, and the advantages of lockdown will be lost,” he pointed out.

The BMC chief cited news and social media reports as well as police inputs on crowding and law and order issues, as the reasons for this decision. Only groceries and chemist shops can remain open. (With inputs from Alok Deshpande)