Day after May 7 order, TN defers opening of liquor outlets in city

Though the government did not mention any reason for its decision, a senior Tasmac official told DT Next that authorities deferred opening of outlets looking at the spurt of corona cases in the city. The official said of the 300 and more liquor outlets in the city alone, one-third of the shops are located in most COVID affected areas of north and south Chennai. He added that authorities have also found 50% of liquor shops situated near containment areas.

“In addition, the government has also considered the advise of many political parties, which criticised the decision to open Tasmac outlets at a time when corona cases have crossed the 1,700-mark in Chennai,” he said, adding, “the government is expected to announce the opening of liquor shops in a few days after getting a new list of outlets that are not located near the containment area. The announcement may be out on Wednesday.” According to the official’s statistics, as on February 2020, a total of 311 liquor shops located in Chennai and about 200 outlets, situated in suburbs, come under the Police limits of Greater Chennai (Tiruvallur, Chengalpattu and Kancheepuram districts). The official pointed out that preparations, including transferring liquor stocks from depot to outlets will begin from Wednesday morning.