Mumbai shuts non-essential shops including liquor stores after distancing norms flouted
Mumbai civic body on Tuesday decided to close all non-essential shops, including standalone stores selling liquor, as cases in Maharashtra crossed the 15,000 mark on May 5. Only essential item stores like grocery shops and medical stores/chemist shops will be allowed to be open in the city.
In a circular issued by Mumbai's Municipal Commissioner, Praveen Pardeshi, he said that he is convinced the situation in the city is "going to deteriorate" due to the relaxation measures provided by the government, and he is therefore withdrawing the relaxations from the city.
"Only the groceries and the medical store/chemist shops will be allowed to open," Pardeshi said.
"Due to above relaxations, there were huge crowds gathering near these shops and it has been impossible to maintain social distancing," the commissioner added.
On May 3, the Maharashtra government said that it is allowing standalone shops, including liquor shops, to open in Red Zones from May 4, though they cannot be opened in containment zones.
"... It has been observed that the number of positive cases in the city of Mumbai have been rising and the downward trend is yet to set in and gathering of crowds in large numbers without following social distancing will be detrimental to the control of spread of virus and the advantage of the lockdown will be lost due to gathering of people in large numbers," the circular said.
