NEW DELHI: Even a special ‘corona fee’ of 70 per cent levied on alcohol by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government was not enough to deter hundreds of booze lovers on the second day of Lockdown 3.0. In several areas shops were closed within hours of opening due to violation of social distancing norms by the crowds.
Krishna Nagar, Laxmi Nagar, Chandar Nagar, and in some parts of East and North East Delhi, people were found violating social distancing norms. In Dwarka, police said shops closed by noon following the violations of norms. Chandar Nagar saw queues of people as long as 2 km to buy liquor, all while violating social distancing norms. Similar scenes were seen outside the vends of Krishna Nagar.
People who had lined up to buy liquor also complained about a lack of police patrolling and intervention outside the shops.A man in Laxmi Nagar said, “People have been gathering here since 6 am. The shop was set to open at 9 am and the police came just five minutes before the store opened. No patrolling took place before that. Anything could have happened, people can kill each other over liquor. Theft and snatching could have also taken place. No social distancing norms are being adhered to either.”
While, another man Vinod Yadav at Bhikaji Cama Place said, “We are economic warriors. We are okay with a 70 per cent hike. Jitna sehat k liye khana jarurat hai, utna hi pina bhi (As important as it for our body to eat, drinking alcohol is as well). It is a donation from us to the government.”