Coronavirus: Defying Karnataka govt order, Pubs, bars remain open in Bengaluru

Bengaluru, Mar 16: Though Bus-stands and railway stations in Bengaluru wore a deserted look after the the government order was passed as part of the lockdown for a week in the wake of the coronavirus, few malls and pubs still remained open over the weekend.

According to reports, after the order of malls, cinemas, pubs, night bars being shut, there has been some confusion on the closure of pubs, bars and restaurants.

On Saturday, the Excise department had informed those with the CL-9 licence to open, while the Police department had ordered them shut.

The excise commissioner's order stated closure of only 'CL-4 licences' (clubs) and Independent Retail Vend of Beer licences (pubs). The department has failed to notify CL-7 (hotels and boarding houses) and CL-9 (bars, restaurants) which is why several bars were still open in the city.
On March 13, Yediyurappa issued instructions to stop all kinds of exhibitions, summer camps, conferences, fairs, marriage, sports and engagement events and birthday parties state-wide for a week from Saturday.

A day after the shutdown order, the usual rush at the Central bus-stand was missing. "Since yesterday there is slackness. Today again we are witnessing the same," a Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation official told PTI.

The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, which runs inter-city and inter-state buses, too has seen a decline in its revenue. "For the past five to six days we are seeing a drop of Rs 32 lakh to Rs 35 lakh in our daily revenue of Rs eight crore," Bengaluru divisional controller B T Prabhakar Reddy said.

Meanwhile, six people in Karnataka have contracted the virus including the 76-year-old man who died due to this disease from Kalaburagi in the state.

The Karnataka government would also start thermal screening of visitors at various places including the vidhana soudha, high court, secretariat, and city civil courts, from Tuesday.