New Year RUSH: Covid norms fall flat at wine shops

Hyderabad: The Corona scare is no more a fear amongst the citizens as they thronged wine shops, restaurants, roadside eateries and bakeries, in huge numbers in the city by throwing the norms of social distancing for a toss.

Suresh Goud, a businessman, said that the main reason for rush at wine shops is due to December 31 and as it is always celebrated with sheer enthusiasm the citizens are in a mood to continue the same way by leaving all the worries of 2020 behind them. He noted, "The alcohol shops have been permitted to operate in the city till 12AM and that is also one reason the rush is heavy in the shops as people want to stock it and celebrate it later."

Anthony, a software engineer, stated, "The Corona guidelines have been thrown into bin on the last day of the year by the citizens as nobody is seen to be following the guidelines of social distancing even near hotels, roadside eateries, bakeries, etc..

More importantly the police is not able to control nor able to monitor the huge rush because they dont have sufficient manpower to enforce the law nor are they able to control the crowd. But it the responsibility of citizens that they should take care of themselves in such distressing times of Corona and with the second wave spreading fast from UK the citizens should not risk their health."

Manik Rao, a Sub Inspector of Traffic, said that as the wine shops would be open till 12 am, there would be chances of traffic getting jammed and for this reason the department deployed more number of cops.

He noted, "We are mostly focused on the motorists who are involved in drink and drive cases because they are the ones who might create troubles to regular motorists. Also, we increased monitoring near wine shops and cases would be booked if people are found to be violating the Covid norms."