From sanitizers to regular cleaning, markets do it all to tide over corona
nNEW DELHI: Dheerendra Rawat, a grocery shop owner in south Delhi’s INA market, has started pulling down the shutters of his shop at 2pm everyday for an hour. The floors are thoroughly scrubbed, the counters disinfected and the cash box wiped clean with wet tissues. The shop is reopened after this ritual.
The panic around the fast spreading coronavirus infection (Covid-19) has pushed several shop owners in INA market, which is frequented by tourists, expats and residents of upscale neighbourhoods, to be more cautious of than usual of maintaining hygiene.
“There is no panic, but we are doing what the government is asking us do as precaution. Most owners would clean their shops before opening, but now this is being done around three times a day. We are equipping our cleaning staff with masks, gloves and rubber boots so that they are also protected from any kind of infection,” Rawat said.
The traders’ association in central Delhi’s Khan Market has also directed all shopkeepers to sanitise their premises at regular intervals. Most eateries have placed hand sanitisers for customers at entry points, the cash counter and even on tables.
“Since most of our clientele are educated and from a certain section of society, there is a lot of self regulation from their end. In restaurants, customers usually first go to the washrooms to wash their hands and then come in to sit. But we are doing what we have to from our end,” said Anshu Tondon of the Khan Market Restaurant Association.
Malini Oberoi, who was at Khan Market with her clients for a lunch meeting on Friday, said much of her business meetings used to happen in the coffee shops and eateries in the market. However, as the scare around the virus has increased, many of her business associates have requested meetings be postponed or resort to video calls instead of a face-to-face meeting.
“There is definitely fear among people, but people like me have no other option but to step out for work. It is important that the government put a health drill in place so that there is a standard protocol following in crowded places,” Oberoi said.
In the more crowded markets, shopkeepers have decided to give away free masks and hand sanitisers to customers. In south Delhi’s Sarojini Nagar, which gets a daily footfall of nearly a lakh, on the purchase of suits and sarees, you will be handed masks and a bottle of hand sanitizer.
Boards with, “free masks and sanitiser for customers”, are hung on mannequins and at entry points.
The initiative was started by the Sarojini Nagar Mini Market Association to create awareness among people and to equip customers, shop owners and staff to fight the epidemic. Boards reminding people to wash their hands or to sanitise it are also placed around the market.
“It is not like customers here cannot afford a mask or a sanitiser, but this is just our way of creating awareness among people and to remind them to follow precautionary measures while in crowded spaces,” Ashok Randhawa, president of the Sarojini Nagar Mini Market Association said.