People queued up from 6 am with water, snacks AP liquor shops witness mad rush

Ignoring protests by women and Opposition parties, the Andhra Pradesh government opened liquor shops across the state on Monday, ending a 40 day dry period enforced as a consequence of the lockdown.

Enthusiasm was palpable all across. Several people were ready in a queue in anticipation of a purchase at the wine shop premises from 6 am, with some of them even carrying water bottles and snacks.

In Nellore, a 25-year-old youth was killed while he was going to a wine shop in a motorcycle at a high speed. In a posh locality of Visakhapatnam, the management of a liquor shop garlanded the first customer, who purchased two small bottles. There was a huge rush in Vizianagaram, the only green district in the state.

The sale drew tipplers even from across the borders of Tamil Nadu and Telangana, where a decision to open wine shops is yet to be taken. Though many opposed opening of liquor shops, their plea was ignored.

In Guntur, tokens were issued to people as they were very long queues. The police forced a closure of shops in Visakhapatnam and Tirupati after women protested.

The opening of shops has invoked mixed reaction from various sections of people. While tipplers and businesses welcome the decision, women and Left parties strongly opposed it, blaming the government for an “irrational decision”.

Every shop had queues extending in kilometres, giving a tough time to the police and excise personnel to control. The physical distance of six feet was given a go-by at many places as people were seen touching each other due to lack of space.

The waiting ended at 11 am but there suspense and despair as sales could not commence due to technical error in updating MRP rates. People for a second thought the government has changed its mind and might close shops.

Some of the middle and upper middle class customers did not personally purchase their quota. They deployed decoy customers. In some places, they even put women to make a purchase.

When some tried to influence police and excise personnel to help them cut the queue, they were booed away by those standing in for hours under hot sun.