Frustrated by the sudden lockdown and shutdown of liquor stores, a labourer from Karnataka's Tumakuru district tried to commit suicide recently. He is not the only one. In the last week, Kerala and Karnataka have witnessed nine suicides by people who were reported to be addicted to alcohol and unable to access the brew post lockdown.As the Covid-19 pandemic takes its course in India, another silent crisis is taking shape. According to a 2019 government survey there are 16 crore Indians who drink alcohol. Dr Atul Ambekar , professor at the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC) AIIMS, said, "While the number of Indians who drink is much less than the world average, the amount of alcohol consumed by Indians is very high. So we have a very large proportion of heavy drinkers in our country." Of these he estimates that about 80% might suffer from mild to moderate withdrawal symptoms but there would be about 20% who may have a severe condition.Unfortunately, while there may be an increase of such cases, access to medical care providers is blocked. Experts say that while treatment or management of addiction is not a complicated affair, patients may not be turning up either due to the lockdown or fear of contracting Covid if they went to a medical facility at all. They also point out that alcoholism is an already stigmatised condition and is looked at with less empathy by authorities or family.Dr Roshan Bhad from AIIMS NDDTC & psychiatry department said, "It is an unprecedented situation. We have tried to reduce the number of trips that patients need to take by extending their prescriptions by a month or so. But this is only for people who are already registered with us. We are not taking any new cases." None of the drugs used to treat addiction are available over-the-counter so visits to a medical practitioner are a must.A psychiatrist with Delhi's IHBAS said that internationally some countries had announced weekend holidays for liquor vends so that people could buy genuine liquor instead of risking their lives with adulterated or country-made liquor. The risks were visible in Assam on Monday when one person died and eight others fell seriously ill after consuming industrial spirit as a substitute for liquor.In Kerala, the helplines have been ringing with some reporting that they were hallucinating about liquor bottles. The issue is so serious that Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan issued a controversial order asking doctors to issue special passes for drinkers allowing them to purchase liquor from state vends.