Why TASMAC Shops Won't Open in Chennai on May 7? Reason Behind The Order!

A day after Tamil Nadu government announced to open state-run TASMAC (Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation) liquor outlets across the state from May 7th, an order was later released which stated that liquor shops will not open in Chennai while other districts will continue the sale. 

This sudden change in decision comes a day after, Tamil Nadu witnessed its highest-ever surge in coronavirus cases. Taking a look at the number of cases, the state reported 527 new COVID-19 cases, of which 266 cases were from Chennai alone. 

As per a DNA report, the state government mentioned that the decision to open liquor stores was taken after people living in the border areas were traveling in large numbers to neighboring states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, to avail liquor from stores there.

The announcement to open liquor stores came into effect with rules and guidelines like;

- 6-feet distance between customers

- a limit on 5 customers at a time

- shops can deploy more workforce to avoid crowding

Also, soon after the Tamil Nadu government released the decision to open liquor shops amid growing COVID-19 cases, leaders from the opposition slammed them for it.

Taking a look at the current stats, Tamil Nadu has recorded a total of 3,550 COVID-19 cases while 1,438 of the active cases are from Chennai.