Panic buying grips city markets
THOUGH THE COURT CLARIFIED THAT IT WAS NOT IMPOSING A COMPLETE LOCKDOWN, THE CITY MARKETS, INCLUDING CHINHAT, LALKUAN, NARHI, QAISERBAGH, AMINABAD AND OTHERS, WERE FLOODED WITH PANIC BUYERS.
LUCKNOW: Panic buying became palpable in the city markets soon after the Allahabad high court on Monday directed the state government to strictly enforce a weeklong closure of establishments (government or private) except financial and essential services, in five cities —Prayagraj, Lucknow, Varanasi, Kanpur Nagar and Gorakhpur.
Though the court clarified that it was not imposing a complete lockdown, the city markets, including Chinhat, Lalkuan, Narhi, Qaiserbagh, Aminabad and others, were flooded with panic buyers.
“It’s going to be lockdown again. I don’t have enough ration at my place. Hence, I am here to buy some ration,” said Sudhakar Mishra, a businessman. Later, the government said that there would be no full lockdown or fresh restrictions for now.
Before that, long queues were also witnessed at petrol pumps and CNG stations. “Until the afternoon, things were fine. However, suddenly long queues of vehicles were witnessed,” an auto-rickshaw driver said.
Some people also blamed black- marketeering, saying some shops increased the prices of vegetables and fruits.
“Suddenly, the shopkeepers have increased the prices of fruits and vegetables. The price of banana, which was Rs 40 a dozen, increased to Rs 60. The price of apple increased to Rs 160 a kg from Rs 120. Similarly, the price of vegetables too shot up. Potato was selling for Rs 20 to Rs 30 per kilogram. The price of other vegetables, too, witnessed a hike,” said Mohammed Parvez, a Qaiserbagh resident.