Tamil Nadu government, in its latest directive issued on August 16, has announced that stand-alone Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited (TASMAC) shops located within Chennai City limits can open beginning August 18, Tuesday. The TASMAC shops will be allowed to do business between 10.00 am to 7.00 pm. However, TASMAC shops inside malls and inside containment zones will continue to remain shut.
Further, according to the directive, per day sales of liquor will be limited to 500 tokens per shop. All those visiting the liquor shops will have to wear face masks and follow physical distancing rules as mandated by the government. As is the practice the TASMAC shops will not function on Sundays, when Tamil Nadu goes into complete lockdown.
After a period of strictly enforced lockdown that existed for over 75 days, TASMAC shops in the state, located outside Chennai City limits, were allowed to open from May 7. Owing to Chennai’s steeply increasing number of COVID-19 cases, the government took precautionary measures to keep the state-run TASMAC shops located inside Chennai to remain shut. This came as a disappointment for tipplers in the city.
Just a day later, on May 8, Madras High Court ordered shut the TASMAC shops and instead allowed only online sales of liquor when visuals showed people queuing and overcrowding outside liquor shops. Opposition parties too, including the DMK, CPM, VCK, and Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam, criticized state government’s decision to open TASMAC shops, which are potential hotspots for the spread of COVID-19.
On opening day, hundreds thronged TASMAC stores in the state. According to some reports, 20 lakh litres of alcohol worth Rs 170 crore were sold. Notably, just on August 8 alone, TASMAC shops in Tamil Nadu, except Chennai region, sold a whopping Rs 189.38 crore worth liquor.
Tamil Nadu presently has 54,019 active COVID-19 cases of which 11,498 are in Chennai.