Nilesh Jadhav, a second year B.Com student at a well-known college in the city, is enjoying his summer vacation and was looking forward to having his usual quota of beer with friends at his favourite bar in Kalyani Nagar. But since Tuesday, this routine was broken, but not quite the way the government would have wanted it.

As Pune district went to the polls on Thursday, tipplers in the city were expected to endure three consecutive days without their elixir. The Election Commission had declared Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (till 5 pm) as dry days in a bid to ensure that people remained sober in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections. “Three dry days in a row is harsh. But we had stacked up in advance. Also we knew where to find liquor on these dry days,” Jadhav said.

Clearly, quite a few wine shops and bars had made provisions for their loyal patrons, who ensured that the cash registers kept ringing through the ‘dry’ spell. Liquor was available — though not readily — in several areas across the city, albeit at a higher price than usual.

The owner of a liquor retailer in Koregaon Park area said, “Though we have been officially closed since Monday night, we have sold liquor worth at least Rs one lakh to some privileged customers over the last three days. Since many people had stashed away their regular quota, liquor sales had shot up by around 15 per cent since last Friday. And since we were expecting a lull in sales, we have cashed in on the dry day scenario by charging more than usual.”

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