City’s panic shopping spree leaves stores dry
CROWDING DESPITE CORONA RISK Prices of commodities such as food grain, fruits, vegetables soar; govt steps in to restore supplies and e-commerce network
The stock of essential goods in retail stores across Mumbai took a hit on Wednesday, with many shops even downing shutters, as citizens took to panic buying of essential items such as grocery and medicines, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a countrywide 21-day lockdown on Tuesday evening to check the outbreak of the Covid-19. Consequently, prices of essential commodities sold without a retail price tag, such as grains, fruits and vegetables, soared.
“We ran out of groceries, including food grains and biscuits,” said Ramdas Gupta of Hingwalla Vyapari Mitra Mandal. Prerak Choudhary, a lawyer from Colaba, who went out in the morning to buy flowers for Chaitra Navratri that started from Wednesday, had to return empty-handed. “Most things are available in the market, but you can’t be picky about the brand,” said Choudhary. “No grocery shops or vegetable shops were open,” complained Munendra Kumar Jha, a retired naval officer.
The government, however, took urgent measures to restore supplies. Through a video circulated on social media by his team, Chhagan Bhujbal, minister for food and civil supplies, said, “I want to assure everyone that we have sufficient supply of food grains. Milk, eggs, vegetables will also remain in supply. There is no need to panic, and hoard essential items at home.”
An officer from this ministry told Hindustan Times, “The state has enough stock to last for six to seven months, and Food Corporation of India is ready to give any amount of grains required by the state, so there is no need to panic.”
Online delivery of essential goods has also been delayed this week, as many big e-commerce brands officially announced closure of their operations until further notice. Industries minister Subhash Desai on Wednesday formed a panel of experts under the chairmanship of the department’s secretary Venugopal Reddy. Desai told Hindustan Times, “It is essential to restore the supply chain. E-commerce must be promoted, so people are encouraged to shop online and do not venture out to buy groceries or utilities. The panel of experts will have detailed talks with all representatives of all e-commerce companies, to understand individual problems and find a solution to them.”
Desai said the ministry will come up with a protocol for all e-commerce companies, regarding supply, maintenance of stock, storage, delivery, health and hygiene concerns for the delivery personnel, and quality control for buyers.
An updated circular issued by the state government on Wednesday regarding the lockdown also directed all vehicles distributing essential goods to retailers to paste self-declaration stickers on their vehicles, for uninterrupted commute through the city.
Viren Shah, president of Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association (FRTWA), said, “The situation will improve on Thursday.”
A senior state officer from the food and civil supplies ministry said, “Any distributor who faces problems can call 100.”
The Thane Municipal Corporation shifted all vendors out on roads from the congested markets. The hawking spaces were spaced out, 10 feet from each other, while every vendor was asked to demarcate spaces with a distance of 4 feet between every buyer to ensure social distancing.
Meanwhile, the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) introduced helplines for the elderly and differently abled, to help them get necessary essential commodities at the door step. Residents of Ambika Nagar in Ulhasnagar also put up a board on the street with eight numbers where one can call up and order essential commodities. Former corporator of the area Suresh Jadhav said, “The initiative is to avoid crowding.”
Many housing societies from Kharghar, Kamothe and Vashi, however, have said no to delivery boys. Sumant Agarwal, committee member of Shakeshwar Heights in Kamothe said, “We have asked people to go down and collect their orders.”