Social distancing in Delhi: Grocers say stuck between defiant customers and police booking violators

New Delhi: Ashok Garg, 46, a grocery store owner in Tara Apartments in south Delhi’s Alaknanda has been overworked ever since the lockdown came into effect. With

New Delhi: Ashok Garg, 46, a grocery store owner in Tara Apartments in south Delhi’s Alaknanda has been overworked ever since the lockdown came into effect. With less than half his staff reporting to work, Garg on Monday was busy not just catering to customers queuing up to buy essential items but ensuring they stood within the circles marked on the ground for maintaining physical distance.

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From putting up sign boards asking customers to wear face masks to making sure they don’t rush to the counter all in one go, those selling essential commodities in the national Capital said they have to do more than just their job to stay in the business.

In order to enforce social distancing measures at marketplaces, the Delhi Police have asked shopkeepers across the city to ensure that customers maintain appropriate distance and wear protective gear such as masks when they come out for shopping.

If they fail to ensure this, the shopkeepers can be booked for violation of rules of the lockdown, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A number of shopkeepers have already been booked for the offence.

According to data provided by the Delhi Police, at least 4,334 FIRs have been lodged so far, under Section 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the IPC, some of which are against shop owners or keepers.

It was only on Monday that Garg got to know that he has been booked under Section 188. “I have been following all measures, as directed by the police. Two days ago, police personnel came over to take stock of the situation and told me that a case is likely to be lodged against me. It was just that despite us repeatedly telling customers to stand in queues, they start crowding. People just don’t listen and we end up bearing the brunt for it,” says Garg, who owns a retail-cum-wholesale grocery store at the Tara Apartments market.

Delhi Police spokesperson M S Randhawa said, “We have booked some shopkeepers for not preventing crowding of customers at their stores. We are deploying our staff to visit shops at regular intervals to prevent crowding and have got circles marked on the ground outside shops to ensure social distancing among customers as they wait in queues”.

According to locals, R K Puram’s Sector 7 Indira Market, a 30-shop complex of which eight dealing in essential items were open earlier, was completely shut on Saturday due to alleged violations of social distancing norms.

“All shops were asked to shut down here after a crowd was noticed at a fish and meat shop in the area. I told the policemen on duty here that I have a curfew pass and have been taking all measures. I was told to get permission from the police station again. By the time I returned, they had already made a case against me. They told me that I will have to appear in court,” said a department store owner from the market, who did not wish to be named.

He added that police too can’t help but put the onus on shop owners as the last resort to maintain the rules of the lockdown.

Deputy commissioner of police (south-west district) Devender Arya said, “We have not asked shopkeepers to close their shops. We have only asked them to follow social distancing norms and took legal action against those who violated them.”

The rule applies to chemists, milk booths, vegetable vendors and all those dealing in essentials. Saurabh Gupta, 38, who runs a pharmacy store in Safdarjung Enclave market, said he has strictly asked customers to enter the store only one by one. “We don’t allow anyone to come in without wearing a mask. One of my staff members is deployed at the entrance of the story to ensure people follow this rule. They do have to wait for a while but this is all one can do to protect themselves at this time,” said Gupta.

He added that the police have registered cases against at least four-five shops in the area for not following norms. Shopkeepers in Ashok Vihar, Mukherjee Nagar, Dwarka and Najafgarh too said FIRs have been lodged against some of them over the past few days for not being able to prevent crowding at their stores.

Grocers, local dairy and vegetable vendors at central Delhi’s Minto Road Complex government quarters, have put up sign boards at their shops and kiosks warning people that they will not be entertained if they come without a mask on their faces.

Santosh Kumar, 47, a vegetable vendor in the market, turned away a customer on Monday for not wearing a mask. “I don’t care about the losses. I don’t sell to anyone who comes in without protective gear. We got these placards from the police. They told us they will book us if we allow anyone coming in for purchase to break the rules,” said Kumar.

He added that it’s not the losses he minds but the fact that everyone must contribute in their own way in fighting against the contagious virus.