Pubs and bars were open on the 100-feet-road and the on by-lanes of Indiranagar, Koramangala, Lavelle road and other parts of the city

Saturday night in Bengaluru amid the coronavirus scare was like any other Saturday night. Pubs and bars were open on the 100-feet-road and the on by-lanes of Indiranagar, Koramangala, Lavelle road and other parts of the city. This, despite the fact Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa had ordered the closure of pubs for a week from Friday midnight onwards.

Residents of Indiranagar are up in arms as they say this is a ‘sitting time bomb’ for Covid-19 to spread. Indira Vishwanath, an Indiranagar resident, tells India Today TV that at 8 pm almost all the pubs and bars were open.

“We want them to shut down in order to maintain the social distance between people. Even if one customer has this deadly virus, he or she can spread it to everyone there, including the employees,” Indira Vishwanath said.

She added that if schools and colleges are closed and the government is encouraging people to work from home then, why the “non-essential establishments” in their neighborhood are not shutting down.

City Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao also told India Today TV that all pubs and bars should be shut.

“Countries around China have imposed self-discipline. We can give directions. We have to make sacrifices. We can treat 100s now, we can’t treat 1000s,’ Bhaskar Rao said.

The police commissioner also says that if pub and bar owners do not follow the rules, then the next step is to use strict action against them.

“Tomorrow we will take a review. Day before yesterday we did that. We can’t go overboard suddenly also. It is not something I am privy to. The whole world knows what’s going on all over. If you want to make a quick buck there, you can browbeat me but not the virus,” Rao added.

To control the spread of Covid-19 in the limits of Bengaluru City, the authorities ordered that places of mass gathering like cinema theatres, malls, marriage halls, night clubs, etc. will be closed. The order was promulgated under the regulation of the Government of Karnataka.

Pub owners have found a loophole in the orders passed by the Excise department. The Excise Department order does not mention that bars had to be shut. Apparently, bars, where people can sit and drink, are allowed to be open.

Night clubs are where there are dance floors. These are to be closed because they are categorised as crowded areas.

The Excise Department has issued separate licenses for different kinds of establishments. Night clubs have CL-4 licenses while the Excise Department categorises bars as refreshment rooms and issues the CL-9 license to such establishments. Hotels are given CL-7 license.

But, citizens are complaining that on one hand pubs are allowed to be open, the police are forcibly downing the shutters of big supermarkets.