Covid-19 lockdown: Noida apartment owners demand fresh vegetables and fruits

Owners of flats in eight housing societies in Noida’s Sector 137 asked the city authority to provide them with options to buy fruits and vegetables, claiming the

Owners of flats in eight housing societies in Noida’s Sector 137 asked the city authority to provide them with options to buy fruits and vegetables, claiming the nationwide lockdown had left them short of stock in their homes.

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A few stores, in a 500 square feet retail space in the area, earlier catered to these societies. But after a few residents who frequented these stores tested positive for Covid-19 this week, others have been reluctant to visit these retailers for fear of contracting the virus.

“We have requested that the Noida authority deploy small vendors who can supply fresh vegetables and fruits to group-housing societies in Sector 137. The authority has already started supplying fresh vegetables to plotted bungalows, and they should do the same in Sector 137. If we continue to use these two stores, then there is a risk of spread of Covid-19,” said an owner of apartment in Sector 137’s Paras Tierea society where a person tested positive for the coronavirus disease on Friday.

The Paras Tierea apartment owner’s association has also requested residents of the society to cooperate in maintaining social distance.

“We have requested residents not to panic during this hour of crisis. We have asked citizens not to gather in groups and to send only one person from a family to fetch essential goods. We hope all apartment owners will cooperate and maintain social distance while buying vegetables and fruits at the gate,” said Ravish Gupta of the society’s apartment owners association.

After positive cases of the coronavirus disease were detected in residents of the Paras Tierea and Logix Blossom County societies were detected, the administration ordered the sealing of residential towers.

Apartment owners requested officials that they properly disinfect the common spaces that were used by the patients before they tested positive.

“We cannot go out and buy vegetables from other sectors in Noida due to the lockdown. We can get milk or grocery from shops in the society, but buying fresh vegetables has become a hassle,” said Sanjeev Kumar, the owner of an apartment in Supertech Ecociti in Sector 137.

With people observing fast due to the ongoing Navratra, residents said the unavailability of fruits has turned into a bigger problem than usual.

“My husband and I are both fasting, but buying fruits is a challenge. There is currently no home delivery option either. We cannot drive our cars outside the society to go to shops further away. The only option we have are a couple of fruits and vegetable vendors across the road who cater to two large societies — Logix Blossom County and Paras Tierea. With some residents from both societies testing positive for the coronavirus disease, we need to be more careful when we go out to buy fruits and vegetables,” said Shruti Pandey, a resident of Logix Blossom County.

The Noida authority has deployed 700 vendors across the city so far to deliver vegetables and fruits at doorstep.

“We have deployed vendors who will start supplying fresh vegetables and fruits in societies in Sector 137. We are adding more vendors who can deliver fresh vegetables and fruits in each sector. In the time to come, the delivery of these essentials will become hassle-free, and apartment owners or village residents won’t need to worry,” said Rajeev Tyagi, general manager of the Noida authority.