Mumbai: Long queues were seen outside liquor outlets in Mumbai and Pune on Monday, a day after the state government said shops of non-essential items, including liquor, will be allowed to open in COVID-19 non-containment zones, but to the dismay of the customers, they remained shut.
The confusion was apparently due to a contradictory communication from the excise department, a shop owner said. A senior state government official said no order has been issued to keep these liquor shops closed.
A liquor shop owner from suburban Kalina said the liquor shopwoners got a circular from the excise department on Sunday evening, asking not to open the outlets. "Our shops have already been sealed by the department.