MGR founded tarmac Liquor shops in Chennai will reopen on Tuesday after nearly five months since the lockdown was imposed.
A statement from the state government said the shops will remain open from 10 am to 7 pm and only 500 people will be served at each shop every day through a token system.
Masks and social distancing are mandatory and outlets in malls and containment zones will continue to remain shut.
PMK, an ally of the ruling AIADMK party, had demanded permanent closure of liquor shops citing the state government’s promise to close liquor shops in phases
In May, a day after these shops were opened in the rest of Tamil Nadu outside Chennai, the Madras High Court ordered their closure as large crowds started gathering outside them, violating social distancing norms and guidelines given by the court including issue of receipts and delivery against Aadhaar details.
However, the Supreme Court finally agreed with state government plea and opened Tasmac Shops
The government had mentioned in Court that it had lost a daily liquor sale revenue of Rs 90 crore across the state since March. Tamilnadu under ADMK rule had recorded more than Rs 30,000 crore in liquor sales the highest liquor revenue state in India .
Even after a 50 per cent dip in cases, Chennai sees around 1,000 new coronavirus cases daily with districts neighbouring Chennai showing a spike.
Chennai as on date has 11,498 active cases and a total of 1,16,650 positive cases. The state’s tally has crossed 3.38 lakh with 54,019 active cases.
After the initial closure of a small number of shops, the ADMK government made no serious attempts to fulfill its promise to cut liquor shops gradually but opened more shops during this last 5 years .
