Guwahati: Kamrup (Metro) Deputy Commissioner Biswajit Pegu today promulgated an order allowing the Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL)"ON" shops in the district to operate from 10 am to 5 pm after the extended coronavirus-induced lockdown in the urban area.
"IMFL ON basically means the bars and lounges where one can sit down and have a drink. The order to allow them to resume their services has come down from the Excise department. Thus, they too can resume operations within the permitted time period", Biswajit Pegu, Kamrup (M) DC, told The Sentinel Digital.
However, the establishments must strictly comply with the precautionary measures such as social distancing, the DC explicitly stated in his order.
Business establishments in Guwahati city were put under lockdown on June 28 due to a massive spike in the number of coronavirus infections. After the imposition of the curbs, the district administration conducted massive testing drives across the urban area to detect and isolate virus cases. In the first week of August, the state health department has been continually conducting in excess of 50,000 tests on a daily basis.
All shops, business establishments and offices (barring those exempted) will be allowed to operate on one side of the road on alternate days in Kamrup Metropolitan district and on both sides of roads in other districts between 7 am and 5 pm from Monday to Friday.