Mumbai finally seems to warm up to the idea of home delivering of liquor. On Monday, one in two orders placed for home deliveries of alcohol in Maharashtra came from Mumbai.
With the highest number of coronavirus infections in the country, Mumbai had prohibited counter sales of liquor to avoid large gatherings outside the liquor shops. It was also one of the last districts to allow home deliveries of liquor. While the state had first permitted home deliveries from May 15 onwards, the Mumbai civic body allowed it both in the city and the suburbs only three days ago.
As per the Excise Department’s statistics, 3,062 orders were placed across Mumbai on May 23, the first day of sales after it was permitted. The numbers rose to 18,964 on May 24 and further grew to 24,615 on Monday. By Monday evening, 424 out of these or 36 per cent of licensed shops had resumed home deliveries after acquiring necessary permissions. The home delivery option has always been more popular in the cities. As per the officials, a bulk of the 3,31,655 orders placed since May 15 have come from urban neighbourhoods. After the initial rush outside stores, the department also said that social-distancing measures outside liquor stores are being implemented more effectively.
Liquor shops that have started to deliver liquor at homes in the cities are so far operating in areas that have no active cases of the coronavirus. People in Mumbai can get liquor through online registration. After registering, the citizens will get a token for the same. The previous order of the government to open liquor shops saw huge crowds gathering in front of liquor stores, breaking social distancing norms. Therefore, the government took back the orders. Now, the process to buy liquor has been made better for effective management to ensure the sale of alcohol all throughout Maharashtra.
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