Patna residents rush to shops on first day of lockdown

PATNA: As groceries, pharmacies and vegetable shops are allowed to open, residents thronged marketplaces on the first day of the lockdown on Monday to stock up on essential items out of fear of shortage of foodgrains, edible items and medicines.
People were seen busy buying basic edible items like sugar, salt, rice, flour, pulses, dairy products and packed food items, including noodles and pasta.For personal and home care, sanitizers, Dettol solutions, floor cleaners and drinks to increase immunity were in high demand.
Diabetic and people having other health conditions like hypertension bought medicines in bulk, forcing some of the medicine stores to put notices, restricting the number of medicines per person.
Manoj Kumar, a salesman of a drug retail shop at Govind Mitra Road, said it may be difficult for everyone but they are trying to assure the consumers that their shop would remain open even during the lockdown period. “There are enough stock of medicines in the godown as well as in our shop,” he claimed.
Few medical stores put up notices that people are not allowed to buy medicines for not more than two weeks. Shahzad Hussain, owner of a medical store near Patna Medical College and Hospital, said several people are buying medicines in bulk, claiming that the lockdown would continue for some time and essential items will go out of stock. “We have told them that all the essential items, including medicines, are exempted from the lockdown,” he said.
Similar was the situation at super markets and grocery shops. The essential items were flying off the shelves while the employees were busy restocking the items.
Kamal Kant, sales executive at a grocery shop near Budh Marg, said they are struggling to keep the shelves stocked with high-demand emergency items. “People mainly buying the packaged food, basic foodgrains, spices and personal hygiene products like sanitizer and chemicals to clean home,” he said.
Riddhi Sinha of Alpana market locality said there was a general atmosphere of panic that was hard to avoid. She also bought essential items in bulk from nearby grocery store.
Shazia Anwer of Phulwarisharif said she bought things in bulk so that she could avoid going out every few days for essential items.
Several stores restricted the entry of many people at a time as a precautionary measure.
Birendra Singh, the owner of a general store on Boring Canal Road, said only seven people are allowed to enter his shop after using hand sanitizer. “We can’t allow many people at one time and assure them that the store would remain open even in emergency situations,” he said.
Meanwhile, the vegetable vendors have hiked the prices following the rumours of closure of sabzi mandi. The vegetable prices have surged by at least 20-40%.
Munna at Anta Ghat said almost all the sellers increased the prices of vegetables. “Potato is selling at Rs35/kg, which was earlier available at Rs16/kg. Tomatoes are being sold at Rs42/kg compared to Rs25/kg a day before,” he said.
Cauliflower is being sold at Rs60/kg, lady finger at Rs45 and cabbage at Rs35/kg. Other vegetables like brinjal, capsicum, onion, carrot and bell pepper also witnessed steep rise in their prices.