Supply of essential items picks up in Punjab
JALANDHAR/PATIALA/AMRITSAR: The residents of several cities across Punjab got relief as the availability of essential commodities saw a marked improvement on day four of the curfew imposed by the state government to check the spread of coronavirus pandemic in the state.
The supply of milk and medicines was streamlined and the availability of fruits and vegetables also improved despite teething problems at several places.
In Jalandhar, some residents placed orders for the supply of groceries, milk, and medicines over the phone while others got their morning supplies from the neighbourhood stores.
Over 200 medical stores, 150 grocery shops and 550 milk vendors have been given curfew passes to facilitate the supply of essentials. In several areas, the city residents stood in queues at the designated spots to buy fruits and vegetables from vendors. They kept the required social distance as the authorities had drawn the circles on the floor at these places to keep them apart. “The initial panic among people is not there as supplies have stabilised,” said Amanjot of Virka .
The district authorities put the day’s supply of essential items at over 1 lakh litres of milk and 1,000 quintal fruits and vegetables.
Narinder Singh, a wholesale supplier, said shopkeepers were having a tough time meeting the supply orders due to shortage of manpower. BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia demanded relaxation in curfew for a few hours.
In chief minister Amarinder Singh’s hometown also, the home delivery of milk, fruits and vegetables got started on Thursday, but the doorstep delivery of medicines was still to be streamlined.
The administration has roped in councillors in urban areas, and sarpanches and panchayat members in rural areas to facilitate the supply of medicines.
Deputy commissioner Kumar Amit said the administration was keeping tabs on the supply of grocery items and vegetables in the district. SSP Mandeep Sidhu said people should desist from going to markets as arrangements had been made for home delivery.
People in Amritsar also had some respite as the authorities got a tad lenient in the enforcement of curfew, allowing ‘informal relaxation’ to let them purchase items of daily needs.
As they queued up outside the shops, policemen were seen telling them to maintain social distancing to curb coronavirus spread. The administration had also shared contact numbers of vendors and grocery store owners for home delivery, but many people faced difficulty in establishing contact as they are either not responding to calls or their numbers were not reachable.
In Tarn Taran and Gurdaspur districts, relaxation in curfew was allowed for a few hours to facilitate the supply of essentials.