Don’t stock up, Delhi! Not all liquor stores will be shut during G20
Since the announcement of public holiday for September 8 to 10, many Delhiites have been rushing to the liquor shops in NCR, to stock up their bars. An official notification, dated August 22, states that liquor stores in the New Delhi Police District will be closed. But this isn’t true for the rest of the NCR.
Since the government has announced a holiday for schools and offices for September 8 to 10 — due to the G20 Summit and to meet the requirement of ease of movement of a barrage of VVIPs — many have been rushing to the liquor shops to stock up their bars. Banks in the New Delhi Police District are closed for September 8 to 10, and an official notification states that liquor stores in this district (that mainly comprises Lutyen’s Delhi) will also be closed. But in the rest of the city, that’s not the case. Still there is a rush to buy the brands of one’s preference.
“What if I don’t get the brand that I want considering it’s a public holiday on these days?” asks Tushar Gautam, a social media executive based in Vasant Kunj, adding, “Like it’s an off for me, it’s an off for others as well. So I’m sure there is bound to become a challenge to procure liquor during these days. Hence, I’ve already bought four bottles of whiskey and two bottles of rum.”
“There has been a 20% increase in walk-in customers since August 22,” informs Ashwan Singh, who works at Liquor Library 1 in Gurugram Sector 56, adding, “People are thinking ‘Khatam na ho jaye’. Ya phir unhe lag raha hai ki sab jagah theke band ho jayenge is time period mein. This is not true yet customers have been flocking the store, and there has been a non-stop rush for an assortment of hard liquor bottles.”
Such a scene can also be witnessed at liquor stores in Noida sector 29’s Brahmaputra Market where Arun Sinha works at one of the stores. Sinha shares, “Pehle yahan shaam ko sirf 9-10 youngsters aate thhe, who wanted to party near sector 37. But since the announcement of holidays during G20, we’ve been seeing an influx of over 70 customers per day! The surge is surprising considering most of the people are coming all the way from Delhi and are not our regular customers. We have been telling them that we’ll remain open on the days of G20 Summit, but if people want to continue spending then why shouldn’t we make profits!”
A worker at Mayur Vihar Phase 1’s Big Way Wine & Beer Shop in Star City Mall, shares on the condition of anonymity: “Customers are purchasing multiple cases of beer of late, and this has been happening since August 22, when the holiday announcement of G20 was made. Then one customer told us that they are stocking up to be sure that during the days of G20, kyunki uss time par sabki chhutti hai and they want to have the full variety available at home itself. That’s when we realised what was causing this sudden rush. No wonder this past week has been extremely hectic for us aur ab lag raha hai G20 ke pehle hi stock over ho jayega.”
In the New Delhi Police District area, the independent bars will continue to stay open but might be prohibited from serving liquor as per certain news reports. In the rest of the NCR, there are no restrictions expected. Hence there is no need to rush to stock up your bar. So, take a chill pill, Delhi!
Author tweets @KritiKambiri