Forced sobriety for Villupuram tipplers

CHENNAI: Tipplers in Villupuram are in a state of despair as the TASMAC retail outlets in the district are facing an acute shortage of liquor. With stock running out, employees are at the receiving end of customers’ ire  and verbal abuses.According to sources, liquor arrival to the wine shops has considerably decreased in recent weeks. “We would get our stock within 24 hours of ordering from the district headquarters. But of late, the orders get delayed at least by six days, creating a scarcity in the outlets,” a TASMAC supervisor said on the condition of anonymity.Attributing the sudden crisis of shortage to logistics, sources said, liquor should be transported from the TASMAC depot in Villupuram town to 284 shops across the district. The supervisor explained, “The trucks would deliver liquor bottles twice a week. Now, the lorries don’t turn up once in seven days, causing revenue loses to the State-owned marketing corporation.”The (Villupuram) district wine shops record a daily sale of `1.50 crore on an average which it has come down to `1.30 crore due to the existing shortage.Moreover, the sources charged that the logistics provider for TASMAC in Villupuram district, reportedly the sibling of a former DMK minister, was responsible for the prevailing chaos. Despite the fact that the authorities had been intimated about the ongoing crisis, no concrete steps have been taken to find a solution, employees claim.This in turn has put the employees in a fix with the workers facing the music from the tipplers. “In some places, the customers ask us to down the shutters, as liquor is not available for sale,” an employee lamented.When contacted, a senior TASMAC official acknowledged that the contract for transporting liquor to the outlets had been given to the sibling of a former DMK minister.“After we delayed the payment for the logistic provider citing poor services, they increased the number of vehicles for transportation. Setting up an additional depot at Kallakurichi to improve the delivery services is also under consideration,” the official clarified.