The Telangana government is likely to extend lockdown period by at least another two weeks in order to prevent the spread of covid-19 in the state. A decision to this effect could be taken at the Cabinet meeting to be held tomorrow.
The Cabinet meeting, which will be chaired by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao, is also likely to take a call on whether to allow liqour sales in the green and orange zones in the state. In Andhra Pradesh, the liquor sales resumed after more than two months of complete lockdown with the government allowing standalone shops to sell liquor between 11 am to 7 pm from today. A surge of tipplers raided the shelves at liquor stores and wine shops across the green and orange zones in AP.
The Telangana government has given a green signal to start production at breweries in the state from May 4 onwards. The government order triggered hopes among tipplers that liquor would soon be available in the retail liquor stores. Allowing the production in distilleries and breweries is essential to shore up huge revenue from this sector. Telangana’s exchequer has suffered losses worth several crores with the stores being shut for nearly two months. However, in the earlier two Cabinet meetings, KCR ruled out permitting liquor sales in the state.
This is the fourth cabinet meeting. In the previous Cabinet meet, the Telangana government extended the lockdown till May 7 without any relaxations although the Modi government extended the nation-wide lockdown by May 3.
The state has been reporting cases in single digit. The state reported 1,082 cases till now. With Telangana showing a steady decline in the number of coronavirus cases, the Cabinet meeting will decide on relaxing restrictions in the green and orange zones. Telangana has nine green zones, 6 red zones, 18 orange zones The red zones include Hyderabad, Suryapet, Ranga Reddy, Medchal Malkajigiri, Vikarabad, Warangal Urban. The orange zones include Nizamabad, Jogulamba Gadwal, Nirmal, Nalgonda, Adilabad, Kamareddy, Sangareddy, Komaram Bheem, Asifabad, Khammam, Karimnagar, Mahbubnagar, Jagityal, Rajanna Siricilla, Jayashankar Bhupalapalli, Medak, Jangam, Narayapet, while the green zones include Peddapalli, Nagakurnool, Mulugu, Badradri Kothagudem, Mahabubabad, Siddipet, Warangal Rural, Wanaparty, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri.
