Liquor shops open again in Tamil Nadu after a week, long queues seen

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The liquor shops in non-containment zones of Tamil Nadu were open again on Saturday after a week amid police security. The Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) shops were, however, shut in Chennai and Tiruvallur.

The move comes after the Supreme Court on Friday stayed the Madras High Court order regarding the ban on opening of shops, observing that a decision in that respect rests with the state government.

In a May 1 order, the central government allowed states to sell liquor in standalone shops and said social distancing should be followed in such outlets.

As part of measures to avoid crowding and ensure social distancing, authorities implemented a colour-coded token system that specified the date and time allotted for the buyers at a designated outlet.

To prevent unmanageable crowds witnessed in several places when the shops reopened on May 7 after a 43-day dry spell, the authorities limited the number of tokens per day to 500 and 70 for an hour.

The shops are open from 10 am to 5 pm.

Adequate police personnel were deployed to regulate crowds and tokens were distributed at separate locations away from the liquor shops and only those who had the coloured slips were allowed to buy beverages at the outlets.

Several men could be seen standing with umbrellas in districts like Erode, Tirupur and at Madurantakam in Kancheepuram district.