Lockdown eve, Day 1 see long queues at grocery stores; authorities urge residents not to panic, hoard goods

Minutes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation Tuesday evening and announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown, many rushed out of homes to stock up

Minutes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation Tuesday evening and announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown, many rushed out of homes to stock up on essential goods. The panic-buying continued on Wednesday morning as well.

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Long queues were seen outside several stores that sell daily need items, despite authorities urging people to stay calm and indoors.

“I had to get kuttu (buckwheat) flour for my fast on Wednesday. I went around 9pm Tuesday to the department store in our society and it was packed even at that hour. People were queued up outside the store and the sad part is that in their panic, most residents completely forgot about social distancing. The shopkeeper was asking them to remain calm but to no avail. We couldn’t find the items we wanted as the shop was running out of goods,” Bulbul Singh, a resident of Sector 75, said.

Shop owners accepted that there is a shortage of certain products and said that if people regularise their purchases and don’t hoard essential items, the situation could be managed over the next three weeks.

“There is a shortage in the market for vegetables and fruits as some produce from other states and cities are not coming in. Consequently, the prices have also gone up. But if people don’t buy too much and stick to what’s absolutely necessary, the supply can be regulated and we can get through the next three weeks,” Pappu, a vegetable vendor in Sector 77, said.

Suppliers are also going the extra mile to ensure that consumers don’t face any crunch in essential items.

“We are a small shop and we never made home deliveries until now. But to ensure that people do not come out houses and crowd our shop, we have started delivering orders at home even for as little as a ₹200 purchase. We have also requested out supplier to increase the frequency of supply of cereals, flour and grains but they, too, are facing problems as they have to cater to several distributors across the city,” Aniket Srivastava, the owner of a grocery store in Sector 74, said.

Big supply chains such as Big Bazaar and Spencer’s are also widely advertising home deliveries to support residents. Many residential colonies and high-rises ensured social distancing by drawing lines one metre apart outside stores for people to adhere to, with security guards monitoring the situation.

“We asked the vegetable vendor who sells outside the society to set up shop within the premises. That way, people don’t have to leave the society premises and we have put a cap on purchase per person. We are urging people to purchase a kilo or two of vegetables so that others, too, are able to buy what they need. In the morning, we had also asked a milk vendor to come in but people bought milk in large quantities and only a few families were able to avail of the supply. We will streamline the buying to cut hoarding,” Amit Gupta, president, apartment owners’ association, Prateek Wisteria, said.

Officials are also constantly requesting the public to not panic or hoard goods.

In a statement released by supplier of dairy products, Mother Dairy, a spokesperson said, “We welcome the PM’s appeal to exercise restraint from panic-buying of essential food items such as milk and that there will be no disruption in supply of the same to ensure that people of Delhi don’t face any shortage. We have already taken all adequate measures to ensure that the required stock is there to meet consumer demands. Mother Dairy has put in place strict protocols regarding the collection of milk to minimise person-to-person contact and thus to ensure safety at collection, processing and distribution levels.”

The district administration is also monitoring under-weighing and increased prices by certain shopkeepers. A team formed to monitor these issues on Wednesday found a shop in Sector 45 that had increased prices of essential goods. A case was registered against its owner, who was also fined ₹25,000 for not displaying prices of the goods.

“We are ready to take action against anyone flouting norms. Cases are coming to light and due action is being taken under the Essential Commodities Act. However, at this time, we can’t seize or seal shops as that will only inconvenience people. But officials are working to ensure that such problems do not take place. There will be no shortage of essential goods in the district,” Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate BN Singh said.

Local residential bodies and police stations are also requesting public to avoid stepping out unless absolutely necessary.

“RWAs should allocate a couple of people to provide essential services to the rest of the residents. That way, there will be minimum movement of people outside and it will be easier to maintain social distancing at shops,” Shavez Khan, station house officer, Sector 58 police station, said.

Police are also constantly taking action against violators of the lockdown in the district.