Kolkata: Following the Centre’s decision to provide some relaxations during the third phase of the lockdown, liquor shops in West Bengal are allowed to reopen from Monday in the ‘green’ zones only, an official said.
All liquor shops in the state had been closed since the beginning of the nationwide lockdown on March 25, imposed to contain the coronavirus outbreak. The state government is not allowing the liquor shops to reopen in the red zones and still undecided on those located in the orange zones, sources said.
According to the state government, there are four ‘red’, eight ‘green’ and 11 ‘orange’ zones in West Bengal. A meeting of the state government officials is slated for Monday on whether to allow the liquor shops to reopen in the orange zones, the sources said.
Meanwhile, the state government had imposed a sales tax of 30 per cent on MRP of the liquor bottles across categories. The government had also instructed the shops in the green zones to maintain social distancing norms strictly and also provide hand sanitiser to buyers.
