After a gap of nearly 45 days, liquor is back for sale in Telangana where consumption of alcohol is generally very high. And the people have celebrated it in a big way on Wednesday.
Apparently realising that Telangana cannot remain isolated when all the neighbouring states have resumed sale of liquor as per the relaxations given by the Centre, Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao gave a green signal for the same in the state, virtually opening the flood gates.
Long serpentine queues were witnessed before every wine shop since 8 am, though the shops were supposed to open at 10 am.
The boozers made a beeline before the liquor shops to take a sip of their favourite brand of beer and liquor at their nearest liquor store.
They were literally waiting for the news from the State government after spending dry days without consuming liquor for the last 42 days due to lockdown.
The authorities gave a thorough briefing to the liquor shop owners about the steps to be taken to ensure that customers maintain social distance while standing in queue and wear masks.
Using white paint, circles were drawn near the shops indicating that customers maintain social distance. Shopkeepers were expecting brisk sales during the first few days.
But when the shops were opened, the people gave a go-bye to all norms of physical distancing and thronged the shops to buy their favourite brands.
And though the KCR government increased the price of liquor only by 16 per cent, they did not hesitate to spend huge amounts to buy as much quantity as possible!
That is the attraction of liquor!