New Delhi: The governments of Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh announced on Sunday that shops selling non-essential commodities, including liquor, will be allowed to open from Monday in COVID-19 non-containment zones across the states during the third phase of the nationwide lockdown.
This means that standalone liquor shops will open in some areas of the ‘red’ districts of Mumbai, Pune as well as Noida in Gautam Buddha Nagar district.
In Maharashtra, a similar decision had already been announced for the green (no cases of coronavirus) and orange (few cases) zones, and such shops in these two zones were scheduled to open from Monday. However, the authorities on Sunday extended the easing of restrictions for shops in red zones as well.
Senior IAS officer from the Maharashtra Chief Minister's Office (CMO), Bhushan Gagrani, said there are some areas even in the red zone districts where coronavirus infection has been not prevalent since over a month now.
“These areas are known as non-containment zones and such areas will have some relaxations, where shops selling non-essential commodities, like clothes, footwear, liquor and stationery, among others will be opened," Gagrani said, adding the decision has been taken after discussions with the Centre.
He said only five shops in one lane will be allowed to operate during the entire day, though this particular restriction is not applicable to shops selling essential items such as medical and groceries.
“As of now, there are no restrictions on the timing of the shops to remain open," Gagrani said. Sale of liquor in standalone shops will be allowed, but social distancing norms have to be followed strictly, he said.
"To maintain social distancing, only a limited number of shops will be opened from Monday," he Gargani added. The timing of the shops will be finalised by the local authorities, such as municipal commissioners as well as district collectors, he said.
Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to allow standalone liquor shops to open in all red, orange and green district between 10am and 7pm. This, however, is not valid for areas that fall under containment zones.
The authorities have stuck to the MHA advisory for the third phase of lockdown in near totality. All malls, hotels and restaurants to remain shut across the state, even as e-commerce activities will resume in orange and green zone. Core industries in non-containment areas of reds to start work with not more than 50% of the work force.
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