Scores of people today made their way to the liquor shops in Telangana after the KCR government announced that it would impose a ten-day-long curfew in the state from May 12, tomorrow.
Endless snaking queues were seen outside the liquor shops of the state capital as well - reports say that some liquor shops even recorded queues as long as one kilometre. Many were seen purchasing large quantities of liquor before the start of the ten-day curfew period.
The owners of the liquor shops tried their best to control the crowds with the help of private security personnel.
Ironically, the call for a lockdown to combat the Covid-19 pandemic was what led to a situation where large crowds, paying no mind to social distancing norms, congregated outside booze shops across the state. Shops at Lakdikapool, Narayanaguda, Indira Park, Banjara Hills, Chaitanyapuri Hayathnagar, Secunderabad, and Suchitra witnessed massive crowds.
Today is hardly the first time, however, that crowding at alcohol shops has become a cause of great concern in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Just last month, the Telangana High Court had said that the liquor shops in the state had become the
primary spreaders of Covid-19.