Govt offices across state reopen with limited strength

Dehradun/Mussoorie: The secretariat and other government departments reopened in Uttarakhand on Monday with 33% of total strength on Monday. The remaining government employees were allowed to work from home. All the government officials who attended their offices were instructed to wear masks and follow social distancing norms.
In yet another significant development, the district administration has decided to give nod to the businesses (or shops) that have still not been allowed to reopen.The permission will be given after careful consideration of the application for the same by their owners.
Dehradun district magistrate Ashish Kumar Srivastava told TOI, “In case, there are any specific trade which have not been included in the previous list issued on Sunday, the business owners can file their application with the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) concerned. The matter will be considered by the administration and their trade will be included in the list within a week’s time.”
On Sunday, the district administration had issued an elaborate list of shops that have been allowed to open on a daily basis and those which can remain open only thrice a week.
The shops and business centres that have been permitted to function on a daily basis include departmental stores, all private offices, gas agencies, confectioners and bakers, book store and stationary shops, dairy, licensed meat shops, medical stores and vegetable market and stores selling agricultural products and equipment. Whereas the shops that have been allowed to operate only thrice a week include ready-made garments stores, tailor shops, opticians, electrical appliances, showrooms, including the service centres , furniture showrooms, hardware and sanitary showrooms, automobile showrooms along with the service centres, and photo studios.
According to guidelines, the taxi operators have been asked to accept bookings over phone. However, businesses like salons, spa, beauty parlors, gyms, and dry cleaners have been excluded from the list till further orders.
Meanwhile, tipplers started queuing up in large numbers outside liquor shops in Dehradun early on Monday morning as liquor shops were reopened after government announced some relaxations for the third phase of Covid-19 lockdown.
The queues — stretching over 1-2 km at some places — were seen outside liquor shops located at Clock Tower, Mothrowala, Sahasthradhara Road, Prem Nagar and Patel Nagar.
City police had to use force to disperse the people standing in queues to buy alcohol after finding out that social distancing norms were being violated blatantly. This is despite police instruction to liquor vendors to draw circles outside the shops for maintaining equal distance between the consumers.
Notably, Dehradun has been put under orange zone and the state government notification allows standalone private shops selling non-essential items to remain open between 7 am and 4 pm. Liquor shops had been shut across the country since the nationwide lockdown began in March.
According to Shweta Choubey, superintendent of police (city), “Long queues were witnessed outside liquor shops in Dehradun city. Police even had to shut down a few shops in the city after receiving complaints that social distancing is not followed. Overall, police managed to keep everything under control.”
The liquor shop at Clock Tower had to be closed by police after it was found out that people were not following social distancing norms. The shop witnessed a two-kilometre long queue right from early morning hours to 3.30 pm.
These tipplers didn’t just include people from affluent and middle class but also from lower-income group. Around 1.30 pm, cops found a middle-aged daily wager buying three full bottles of English liquor. On being asked how he got the money to buy liquor, he said, “I had saved this for liquor.” The man claimed to be resident of a slum near Sahastradhara Road and said that he had walked over six kilometres to buy liquor. He had been to three other wine shops which were closed. On being asked if he had taken free ration from police in the last 45-days of lockdown, he answered with a smile — “Yes, five times”.
The wine shops also saw huge rush of women. While some were buying alcohol for themselves, others were standing in queues for their male friends or husbands.
“My husband came to the liquor shop but the men’s queue was too long. As our home is nearby, he asked me to buy two bottles for him and I agreed,” said a woman who had covered her face with her stole and didn’t want to tell her name.
In Mussoorie also, a heavy rush was observed at liquor stores after they lifted shutters on Monday after nearly a month-and-a-half shut down. Long queues were observed outside liquor shops from as early as 7 am.
“The government might retract the relaxation during lockdown and close the liquor shops again. So, we queued up early to ensure we are able to collect our stock,” said a city resident who did not wish to be named.
According to shopkeepers, people were purchasing liquor in significantly large quantities. “People are buying several bottles and we had some customers who even bought full cases of liquor,” said a salesman at a liquor shop. Tipplers said that they were buying liquor in sufficient quantities so that it lasts for some time.
Due to the rush, police was deployed at each shop to ensure that social distancing norms were being followed. It is worth mentioning that other shops in the town – particularly garment shops – which opened after a long time on Monday hardly witnessed any sale.
Reacting to the long queues outside liquor shops, Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker Premchand Aggarwal said that he was shocked to see such large crowd gathering outside shops to purchase liquor. “I feel that the government must rethink on its order of opening liquor shops which has thrown social distancing to winds. If this continues, the efforts of coronavirus warriors in the last 40 days will go in vain. The government must also check as to from where these men are getting money to buy liquor”.