After the Delhi government made changes to the “dry days” list, liquor shops across the national capital will remain open this Holi (March 4), a senior excise department official confirmed to PTI news agency on Tuesday. The official said that the closure of shops will be observed as per the order issued in January.
“This Holi, there will be no dry day, and liquor shops will remain open. The closure of shops will be observed as per the order issued in January,” the official told PTI news agency.
Over the past few years, Holi has been among the ‘dry days’ in Delhi. Notably, there are around 750 liquor shops across the capital.
As per the order, license holders “shall not be entitled to any compensation on account of any changes effected in the above list”, and the restriction on liquor sale on dry days above shall not apply to hotels serving liquor to guests.
List of Dry Days This Year
According to an order issued in January this year, only the occasions of Republic Day, Maha Shivratri, Id-ul-Fitr, Ram Navami and Mahavir Jayanti will be observed as ‘dry days’ till the end of March.
The order also removed Holi from the dry days list, hence liquor shops are expected to remain open in Delhi.
January 26, Monday: Republic Day
February 15, Sunday: Shivratri
February 19, Thursday: Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti (Maharashtra only)
February 23, Monday: Swami Dayanand Saraswati Jayanti
March 4, Wednesday: Holi
March 20, Friday: Eid ul-Fitr
March 23, Monday: Shaheed Diwas (Maharashtra only)
March 26, Friday: Ram Navami
April 3, Friday: Good Friday
April 10, Friday: Mahavir Jayanti
April 14, Tuesday: Ambedkar Jayanti
May 1, Friday: Labour Day / Maharashtra Day / Buddha Purnima
May 27, Wednesday: Bakrid / Eid-al-Adha
June 26, Friday: Muharram
July 25, Saturday: Ashadi Ekadashi
July 29, Wednesday: Guru Purnima
August 15, Saturday: Independence Day
August 25, Tuesday: Eid-e-Milad
September 4, Friday: Janmashtami
September 14, Monday: Ganesh Chaturthi (Maharashtra & Karnataka only)
September 25, Friday: Anant Chaturdashi (Maharashtra only)
October 2, Friday: Gandhi Jayanti
October 7, Wednesday: Maharishi Valmiki Jayanti
October 20, Tuesday: Dussehra
November 5, Thursday: Kartiki Ekadashi
November 8, Sunday: Diwali (Delhi-NCR only)
November 24, Tuesday: Guru Nanak Jayanti
December 25, Friday: Christmas
Delhi Braces For Holi
As Holi approaches, Delhi has deployed 15,000 police personnel across the national capital on Wednesday (March 4) to maintain law and order during the celebrations, with special focus on preventing drunken driving and motorcycle stunts, the officials told PTI news agency.
According to Delhi Police, elaborate security arrangements have been put in place to ensure that the festival of colours is celebrated peacefully and safely. Senior officers said teams will be stationed at sensitive locations, major intersections, markets and residential areas to prevent any untoward incident.
