PUDUCHERRY: Puducherry Health Minister Malladi Krishna Rao on Tuesday recommended the reopening of liquor shops in Puducherry when Tasmac shops are opened in Tamil Nadu and suggested a COVID-19 tax on alcohol similar to what Delhi and other states are levying.
Briefing newsmen, Rao said if liquor shops are not opened, it will be difficult to prevent people from Puducherry from going to adjoining states for purchase of liquor. Such a situation has already arisen in Yanam region of the UT, following the opening of liquor shops in adjoining East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh.
This will have adverse effects in combating COVID-19, as the adjoining districts (Villupuram, Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu, East Godavari in Andhra Pradesh and Kannur in Kerala) are in the red zone. Even if 10 percent of the tipplers from the UT of Puducherry go to the adjoining states to get liquor and return, it could lead to the spread of the virus. At the same time, opening liquor shops in all regions of the UT would also enable the government to earn much needed revenue to pay salaries and implement welfare schemes, he said
Further, the minister said COVID-19 has not spread to Puducherry from the Koyambedu market in Chennai, with all the 157 samples testing negative. The traders and their loadmen who go to Koyambedu to get vegetables as well as others who came in contact with them have been tested. Other vegetable vendors in New Bus stand area are being tested today.
After an inspection last evening with Secretary Health, Director, Health and Family Welfare and police officials along the border, he said a lot of people from neighbouring districts are coming here on flimsy grounds. Rao said that the police has been instructed not to permit anyone except those having passes from the District Collector to enter Puducherry.
He said that several patients with simple illnesses from neighbouring districts of Tamil Nadu have been found to be coming in ambulances to Puducherry. The administration has been directed to restrict patients from entering Puducherry, except those requiring emergency care or having serious ailments. If people from the red zones of TN keep on coming to Puducherry, COVID-19 cases here may go up and it may slip from the orange zone into the red zone, he added.
Now, drones would be deployed to keep a watch on the border areas of Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam. There are around 150 such entry points in all the four regions including 82 in Puducherry and these cannot be manned by the police alone. The revenue department would be purchasing 20 to 22 drones for the purpose. However around 125 more drones would be required. Hence it has been suggested that the drone cameras be procured with funds from CM’s relief fund, he said.
There are six cases in Puducherry with two from Puducherry, one from Mahe and three from Cuddalore district. Meanwhile, Muthialpet and Thirukkanur has been withdrawn as confinement zones, while Reddiarpalayam and Ariyankuppam remain in the list.