Hudhud triggers a flood of liquor in Vizag

VISAKHAPATNAM : While Cyclone Hudhud wreaked destruction in Visakhapatnam district and caused unprecedented losses to virtually every department, it could not thwart liquor sales, which not only remained intact but also flourished in the last few days.

Except on the day when the cyclone made landfall (October 12), liquor supply continued unabated and, indeed, swelled in the subsequent days. The sales shot up by 10 to 15 per cent from October 13.

Surprisingly, there is no shortfall in the sale of beer, even though there has been no power supply. 'Even though beer could not be refrigerated due to disruption in the power supply, the tipplers did not mind. They gulped down the beer just as the way they used to gulp down the chilled ones,' a wine shop owner said.

While all the government departments incurred huge losses, the excise department has, in fact, made good revenue. In the initial five days, the buffer stocks, which are maintained to meet exigencies like the ones caused by cyclones, came to the rescue of the liquor outlets.

Take for instance a wine shop in Gopalapatnam. The average sale per day at the shop before the cyclone was `8,500 to 9,000. However, the sale on October 12 was `40,000. It kept increasing subsequently and crossed the `1-lakh mark.

Interestingly, there was no disruption in liquor supply on October 12 and all the shops and bars were kept open to serve the 'devotees of Bacchus'.

'We opened the shop at 4 pm on the day of cyclone to see if there was any damage. Watching us open the shop, tipplers gathered around asking for liquor. There was no power supply and the beer was not chilled. Yet, they had no complaints,' said the owner of the shop.

The same shop registered an increase in liquor sale the next day, even though roads remained blocked and electric poles were twisted out of shape.

'In the first three days, we faced problems in supplying water, soda and drinks to the customers. However, we managed the show till October 15 as our regular water sachet supplier did not let us down,' he said.

The situation was more or less similar in the other shops, too. According to liquor syndicate partner VSN Raju, no liquor shop experienced losses because of the cyclone.

'Though some shops faced shortage of stocks, they did not let the people down as their counterparts helped them out with supplying the required stock.'

Normally, wine shops store stocks to last for at least three days. Since cyclone alerts were being issued much in advance, the shop owners stocked liquor in good volumes to help boozers. 'We have stocked enough liquor, water sachets, mineral water, soda bottles and soft drinks well in advance to meet the rush,' he added.

On October 13, people voluntarily cleared trees and other hurdles on the roads. Later, the GVMC and other government departments like EPDCL engaged workers in huge numbers to clear the roads, which made it easy for the tipplers to queue up before the shops.

Thousands of workers got employment after the cyclone. As the government was providing them with free ration, the workers were spending whatever money they were earning on liquor, Raju observed.

'We ensure supply of liquor to shops which had deposited money in advance with us. After the banks resumed working, we could ensure normalcy in movement of liquor,' said a highly satisfied deputy excise commissioner N Satyanarayana.