People flock outside various liquor shops across the country

Harmful effects of easing of lockdown : Social distancing thrown to the wind

• It shows that Indians have not realised the seriousness of coronavirus in the past days. Hence, considering the gravity of the situation, the Government should abolish relaxations in the lockdown.
• If only the Government of all parties had paid attention to teaching spiritual practice to the people, things would have been different today !

New Delhi – On 3rd May, the Centre extended the lockdown till 17th May. However, the extension will see some relaxations which will be regulated based on the spread of the coronavirus in the Districts, identified as Red (hotspot), Orange (medium risk) and Green zones (safe). However, the Government has now permitted liquor shops to reopen in Green, Orange, and Red zones (barring the containment zones). Of course, there are restrictions in place and shopkeepers have been instructed to ensure that customers maintain a distance of two metres between each other.

On 4th May, alcohol lovers thronged the liquor shops in Delhi and many cities with severalof them violating the social distancing norms. People gathered from early morning onwards. Delhi Police lathi-charged at the gathering outside a liquor shop. The Police shutdown the shops and dispersed the crowd as they were flouting social distancing norms.

Photos and videos shared on social media from across the country showed that while in some places people did maintain some distance, in others, they were packed together like sardines.