Hyderabad: Within minutes after the Telangana government on Wednesday announced a ten-day closure due to the increase in the country Covid-19 cases, hundreds of people lined up at liquor stores in Hyderabad.
Enormous crowds gathered at liquor stores in different parts of the city and its suburbs, waving the whole world Covid precautions such as wearing masks and social distance.
There was chaos and traffic congestion in several places, while the tipplers parked vehicles on the roads to stand in queues for the liquor.
There was hardly a wine shop without a mad rush through notches that sat wildly for booze for the closing period.
As soon as the message spread on various social media platforms that the state cabinet had decided to impose the closure from 12 May (Wednesday), people began to gather liquor stores in ‘panic buying’.
Although the short statement from the Office of the Prime Minister (CMO) states that there will be daily recreation from 06:00 to 10:00 before all activities, tipper vehicles were not sure whether the recreation would also cover alcohol and so they start waving at the stores before they run out. of shares.
Retailers had a very hard time controlling the crowd. Their careers to keep up with social distance fell on deaf ears as customers scrambled to grab their bottle.
A trader said the madness may have been caused by the tipplers because of their experience during the exclusion last year.
Reports of long queues at liquor stores are also pouring in from other parts of Telangana.
There are more than 2000 liquor stores in Hyderabad and 32 districts in the state.
Similar scenes were seen in the first week of May last year when liquor stores reopened after a 43-day gap.
The government’s decision to increase liquor prices by 16 percent also did not dampen the minds of the people.
Source: The Siasat Daily