The swine flu virus, which has wreaked havoc in the city for the last few months, now has an unlikely victim. Liquor trade in the city has been hit hard by the panic caused due to the outbreak of the epidemic. Liquor traders are facing a sharp drop in income. The state excise department is said to have incurred a loss of Rs 2.13 crore in July.

Vijay Chinchalkar, superintendent, state excise (Pune) said, “From July we started feeling the heat of swine flu with the dwindling revenue figures. However, it got even worse with a number of deaths registered in the city in August. People seem to be staying away from alcohol, as our sales figures show.”

“July onwards, people got very cautious and started avoiding public places, hotels and even drinks. Since the hotel industry has been hit hard by this, most of the resto-bars preferred not to stock much liquor,” he said. “While the swine flu scare is the most prominent reason, other factors like increase in the excise duty, the month of shravan (fasting) also contributed to lowering the consumption of liquor.”

The owner of Pardeshi Wines on Karve Road, Rajendra Pardeshi said, “Like many other businesses, the swine flu epidemic is proving a bane for the liquor business. While the month of shravan has a nominal impact on our business every year, this year our business suffered a loss of 30 per cent and it is just because of the swine flu scare among people.”

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