On the evening of June 6, a few days after Cyclone Nisarga missed Mumbai-s coastline by a hair-s breadth, photographer Niharika Kulkarni was on Marine Drive. The 27-year-old, who freelances for a news agency in New Delhi, had arrived early that Saturday evening, not to cover the lull after the storm, but to take pictures of police officers deployed on the promenade. With lockdown norms relaxed in Mumbai, it was likely that people would brave a stroll in the open. "Fortunately, there were very few walkers. They were scattered, and it felt like everyone was following social distancing. In fact, the stretch near Nariman Point was fairly empty," the photographer recalls. But this scene changed within the hour. By 6.34 pm, walkers in one part of the promenade, opposite Pizza by the Bay in Churchgate, were packed in like sardines. A photograph taken by Kulkarni at that exact time, went viral on social media the next day. So disturbing was the image that netizens pronounced it "fake". Kulkarni rubbishes the claim: "I was there, and it wasn-t a good sight."

Crowds stepped out in large numbers at Marine Drive, last Saturday evening, making it difficult for many to practice social distancing. PIC/Bipin Kokate