Maha govt allows shops selling non-essentials, liquor to open

Liquor shops and establishments dealing in non-essential commodities are allowed to open with certain conditions even in red zones across Maharashtra, the government

Liquor shops and establishments dealing in non-essential commodities are allowed to open with certain conditions even in red zones across Maharashtra, the government announced on Sunday via a revised notification. The revision came a day after the state announced it will continue with the stricter norms of the coronavirus-enforced lockdown in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Malegaon. Containment zones in these cities, however, have been excluded from the exemptions. The decision will come into effect from Monday, the beginning of the third phase of the lockdown and which will be in force till May 17.

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Maharashtra on Sunday reported 678 coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases, taking the total to 12,974. It registered 27 deaths, taking the toll to 548. Of the new cases, 441 were from Mumbai, which also saw 21 deaths on Sunday. Of the other deaths, four were in Pune and one each in Bhiwandi and Navi Mumbai. Fourteen of the patients who died on Sunday were above 60 years of age, while 13 had high-risk comorbidities. The mortality rate in the state stood at 4.23%, down from 7.21% on April 12, but the number of deaths is increasing with 270 deaths in the past ten days. The country’s mortality rate hovers around 3.25%.

Excise commissioner Kantilal Umap issued a circular on Sunday announcing that wholesale and retail liquor shops will remain open between 10am and 6pm across the state.

The circular has also stated that the manufacturing of liquor in MMR, Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad will not be permitted during the lockdown restrictions.

On the lines of the exemptions given by the Centre in the third phase of the lockdown, the state has extended relaxations to commercial and industrial activities in the big cities too.

According to the notification issued on Saturday, Maharashtra government had, contrary to the Central order, continued the restrictions in these activities. By revising it on Sunday, the state has allowed stand-alone shops and establishments dealing in non-essential services to open. These establishments, however, will be regulated by local authorities (municipal corporations and police) to ensure that no more than five shops (excluding the establishments dealing in essential commodities) in a lane are open at a time.

The state government has, however, not allowed private and government offices to open in MMR, Pune, Pimpri-Chichwad and Malegaon. The government offices in these cities will operate with 5% workforce. The state government has also allowed construction activities in these cities to resume. “They will, however, have to ensure that their workforce is available in-situ. The Centre had allowed construction activities after completion of the first lockdown on April 14, however, we had banned those for the past two weeks,” said Bhushan Gagarani, principal secretary, Maharashtra government.

“The change in the notification is to ensure the resumption of economic activities, which had come to a standstill, affecting the state’s economy badly. We will ensure that lockdown is strictly followed in the containment zones. By allowing these activities, we also want to retain the migrant workers who have been insisting on going back to their homelands,” said a senior state government official.

An official from the excise department said that the state was losing revenue of around ₹68 crore a day earned from excise duty and sales tax on liquor. “Secondly, by imposing the ban only in certain areas, there was fear of smuggling of liquor from the areas it is allowed,” said the officer.

Containment zones will be demarcated by the district and municipal corporation authorities. “The boundaries are defined by taking into account the various factors including mapping and geographical dispersion of cases and contacts and perimeter. The zone may vary from a building, colony, ward, mohallas to town and cluster of villages,” the notification stated.

Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray held a video conference with district collectors and divisional commissioners on the eve of the commencement of the third phase of the lockdown and relaxations given for commercial and industrial activities. “District authorities have been directed on the strict implementation of the lockdown, especially in the containment zones. With relaxations extended in the third phase, the containment in the affected areas has become very important. The district collectors were directed to implement it strictly,” said an official from the government.

In the past 24 hours, the state has carried out 9,047 coronavirus tests and 678 people have tested positive, which is 7.49% of the total people tested. The number of tests state touched 1,70,139 on Sunday. 1,56,078 of them were negative. 1,81,382 people are currently under home quarantine, while 13,158 are under institutional quarantine. 11,048 teams of health workers have screened 51.05 lakh people for suspected infection after having come in contact with patients. 2,115 patients have fully recovered from various hospitals after testing positive in the past six weeks. The state government has stated that its testing rate is 1,237 per million against the national rate of just 803.

E-commerce deliveries, however, will continue to be under restrictions of dealing in essential commodities. In green and orange zones, all e-commerce activities are allowed, clarified state government officials. Salons, spas, barber shops, taxis and autorickshaws will not be allowed in red zones.

The state government has also clarified that it has no intention of plying any train from Mumbai or Pune in the near future for stranded migrant labourers. “As of now, there will be no trains originating from Mumbai and Pune for migrant workers. We have run four trains, three to Uttar Pradesh and one to Madhya Pradesh for stranded migrant workers. There are no plans to run trains from Mumbai and Pune, looking at the severity of the infection in these cities,” Gagarani said.

Of the total Covid-19 cases in the state, 89.19% (10,968 of 12,296) and 85.6% of the deaths (446 of 521) are from the MMR, Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad as on Saturday. Malegaon municipal corporation area has been added as a hotspot with 219 cases and 12 deaths reported till Saturday.

Meanwhile, CM Uddhav Thackeray has requested the railway ministry to waive off the fare from migrant workers who are travelling in special trains being arranged from Maharashtra. He said the workers are not in a position to bear the cost . He also has directed district collectors to keep the lists of the migrants who want to return to their respective states ready, so a to avoid last minute hassles.