Aurangabad, April 21:
The district administration, under the campaign of Break the Chain, had issued prohibitory orders to prevent the spreading of Coronavirus in the district, on April 16. Hence, on Tuesday, the district administration revised the previous order by reducing the timings of shops by four hours. The new order will remain effective from April 20 (8 pm) to May 1 (7 am) in the district (including the city).
As per the revised order, the shops selling grocery items, vegetables, fruits, milk, bakery products, sweetmeats, chicken, mutton, poultry, eggs, fishes, agri-equipment, fertilisers, agri-produced materials, cattle-feed etc are allowed to remain open from 7 am to 11 am (earlier the timings was 7 am to 1 pm). However, the administration has permitted the shopkeepers to render home delivery services to the customers from 7 am to 8 pm.
Besides, for the convenience of Muslim brethren during the holy month of Ramzan, the administration had allowed some selective shops selling fruits, milk etc to remain open from 7 am to 1 pm and 5 pm to 8 pm (as per the old order). Now, the morning session has been reduced from 7 am to 11 am, while the evening session remains unchanged.
Importantly, the home delivery of liquor in a prescribed format has been permitted from 10 am to 5 pm. However, the delivery should be of sealed bottles only. Meanwhile, the liquor shops are not permitted to open their shops for taking away or parcel service. The transportation falls under essential services, therefore, they are permitted to transport stock of liquor from the production unit to the wholesalers and retailers in different parts of the district. The violators of the new order would have to face criminal action, warned the district administration.