The Kerala society generally had wholeheartedly stayed away from extravagant celebrations during this year’s Onam festival in the context of the unprecedented deluge, but the boozers in the State seem to have refused to give up their spirits during the season.
The sales figures of the Kerala State Beverages Corporation (Bevco) show that Keralites guzzled alcohol worth Rs 516 crore during the ten-day Onam season this year. Bevco had sold liquor worth Rs 533 crore during this period last year.
However, the Rs 17-crore drop seen in the sales value cannot be seen as a reflection of the preparedness of at least some boozers to abstain from drinking considering the fact that 60 of the total 270 retail outlets of Bevco had remained closed during this season due to flooding. The Onam season had started just when the flood disaster was in its worst stage.
Bevco sold booze worth Rs 88 crore on the Uthradam day, Friday, the day before Thiruvonam, the main day of the festival. Normally, this is the day on which the biggest booze sales of the season take place. The corporation had sold alcohol worth only Rs 71.17 crore the same day last year.
Bevco’s sales figures had stood at Rs 43 crore on the Thiruvonam day of Onam in 2017 but the outlets were closed on the day this year. However, the corporation sold liquor worth Rs 59 crore on Avittam, the day that follows the Thiruvonam day.
The Bevco shop at Irinjalakuda in Thrissur district registered the highest sales figure in the State for this Onam.
“The figures show that Malayali boozers celebrated Onam in their usual spirits despite the deluge, the horrors of which the State is still struggling to overcome.
“This may seem a bit odd but the Government must be happy as there would be no drop in the contribution to the exchequer from Bevco,” said Parameswaran Nair, a Thrissur-based anti-liquor crusader.
Boozers of Kerala seem to have stuck to their ‘loyalty’ to liquor during the Onam festival despite the fact that the State as a whole had stayed away from celebrating the festival with its usual joy and passion in the aftermath of the disaster.
Even the State Government itself had dropped its official one-week Onam celebrations because of the calamity.