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In frenzy to stock up, distancing goes for a toss at Ludhiana mandi
Since Monday, the mandi has been seeing a mad rush of people – comprising vegetables vendors and buyers—during relaxation hours.
The curfew and seven-hour relaxation window seem to be doing more harm than good if one goes by the scenes witnessed at the New Sabzi Mandi near Jalandhar bypass.
Since Monday, the mandi has been seeing a mad rush of people – comprising vegetables vendors and buyers—during relaxation hours.
The situation goes completely out of control around 10am when the crowd density peaks. Residents can be seen pushing and shoving each other while they make a dash to stock up on reinforcements, with scant regard for social distancing or mask norms.
Though the authorities had put in place stringent measures to ensure crowd control last year during the lockdown, no such measures have been introduced this time.
Odd hours to be blamed
Darshan Lal Baweja (Laddo), president of the New Sabzi Mandi market committee, said the relaxation window is to be blamed. “The odd hours at which the relaxation is being offered is the reason behind the crowding at mandi. Due to the limited window, vendors and residents gather here in large numbers, which leads to chaos. Authorities should rework the relaxation timings.”
Curbs have triggered bulk-buying frenzy
Rachin Arora, vice-president of Sabzi Mandi vegetable arthiya association, said the curfew announcement seems to have triggered a bulk-buying frenzy among the residents. “People live in constant fear that the government may bring in more restrictions or announce a complete lockdown. So they rush to the market to stock up at every chance they get,” he said, adding that the existent weekend lockdown is also to be blamed. “Most vegetable and fruit vendors run of stock by the end of the week. So they rush to the mandi to replenish their stocks on the first and second days of the week,” he said.
He added that this problem can be eased if the administration allows the vendors to make sales even during curfew hours. He added that a change in relaxation timings may also help ease the rush.
Perishable items
Sanjay Kumar, a vegetable vendor, said, “We have to buy and sell the produce within a limited time frame of seven hours. We start our day at 4am, but it is difficult to sell the product by noon.”
Rajinder Singh, a local fruit vendor, said, “As vegetables and fruits are perishable items, we can’t store these for long. We try to sell as much as possible, but we hardly have any buyers in the early morning hours. The crowds swell up after 9am and by noon everyone is in a hurry to get back home. We also don’t want to be caught by the police, so we pack up and leave quickly,” said Singh.
No lessons learnt
The vegetable mandi had remained the epicenter of the virus spread in Ludhiana last year. At least four out of the 93 cops deployed here for crowd control had tested positive in the initial months following which the infection spread further. In April, the city lost an ACP, Anil Kumar Kohli, who was deployed at Sabzi Mandi, to the deadly disease. The ACP’s wife and gunman had also tested positive. Further, the district mandi officer, who had come in contact with the ACP, also tested positive, and subsequently, her family members had also caught the infection.
Following this, the sabzi mandi had remained closed for over a week.
