HYDERABAD: It was a long time coming. After 43 days of denial of liquor, the tipplers, unable to stop their urge, queued up in front of over 2,200 shops in the State on Wednesday even before they opened in the morning and after a long wait, bought their coveted drink.
By sundown, they were in high spirits, fully sloshed and the merry-making continued into the night. Unlike in other states, where the devotees of Bachhus gave two hoots to social distancing norms, in Telangana their cousins showed exemplary character in maintaining enough distance from one another while waiting for their turn at the liquor shops, regardless of how serpentine the queue had become.
According to Prohibition and Excise Department director Sarfaraz Ahmed, Rs 80 to Rs 90 crore worth of stock was sold in just a matter of a day. A large majority wore masks and remained disciplined until they made their purchase.
A rapturous tippler, after buying a couple of bottles of drink said at Patny in Secunderabad: "I am thankful to KCR saar. As he has told us, we are observing total discipline. See the mask I am wearing," he said pointing to the mini towel that he had turned into a mask and began dancing.
Though the government has jacked up the price of the liquor by about 16 per cent, bibulous citizens weren’t too bothered. They did not mind spending a little extra and walked out looking immensely satisfied. At one shop in Ramanthapur, at least 300 people were seen standing in markings of circles or squares indicating the distance they had to maintain as they moved up in the queue. At some places, they showered wine shop owners with praise and performed pooja to the portraits of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao even before the shops opened up.
"For the first time in 20 years, I went without a drink for 40 days. I cannot wait a moment longer," Venkaiah, who joined the queue an hour before a wine shop opened in Filmnagar of Jubilee Hills said. "Some people came here hours before I did, at 7 am," he said. Rajkumar, another man, who was sitting in the shade while his slippers represented him in the queue said, "The queues in temples are way shorter. I also stood near a fair price ration shop recently. They are not this long. This queue is never-ending."
Many disappointed as stocks run out soon
As the shops sold the stocks that they already had before the imposition of lockdown, it exhausted quickly, disappointing several tipplers.The Prohibition and Excise Department Director said, "Some shops did not open because there was not enough stock. Some of the shops were closed by the afternoon because the stock was exhausted. Around Rs 80-90 crore worth of stock was supplied till Wednesday at 2,200-odd wine shops in the State."
"That is, in addition to the existing stock which shops had at the time of the imposition of lockdown. Liquor Stock worth Rs 100 crore is likely to be dispatched for Thursday," the Director said. In Warangal, the next major city in Telangana, the scene was no different. Several liquor shops witnessed long queues with most of the consumers standing in line since 8 am.
There are as many as 258 wine shops in the erstwhile Warangal district. According to Excise Superintendent of Warangal Rural District, P Srinivas, measures were taken to ensure that social distancing was followed. "We have put boards saying face mask is mandatory for customers and sales boys. At the shops we have set up barricades and provided drinking water facility," he said.