On Monday, a pressing concern for many Indians was addressed when alcohol shops were finally allowed to open shopsubject to certain restrictionsafter more than a month. Immediately, hundreds of people queued up in front of the shops, some with proper social distancing la grocery shops, and many without.

Liquor shops are among non-essential services the Narendra Modi government has given the green signal to as India begins lockdown 3.0 to deal with Covid-19 .

Photos and videos shared from across the country showed that while in some places people did maintain some distance, in others, they were packed together like sardines. Some enthusiastic drinkers even burst firecrackers to convey their joy.

News agencies, journalists and citizens also took to Twitter to show scenes from alcohol shops where the lines were as long as a kilometre.

Alcohol has been a point of contention during the lockdownthe Kerala government even unsuccessfully proposed that people could buy alcohol by furnishing doctors prescriptionsand it was unsurprising that the reopening would be marked by massive crowds.

Police personnel struggled to control crowds in several areas, raising questions about whether the move could have been planned better.