Patna: Shopkeepers feel risk in serving customers

PATNA: Shopkeepers and retailers are also facing a tough time in view of the 21-day lockdown to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Though most of the shopkeepers are taking precautions, they have to risk their lives while serving people with the necessities.
“More than 100 customers are visiting my shop on a daily basis. It is very difficult to fulfil their demands as they come up with a big list of grocery items.The time is so crucial that I can’t even close my shop as it won’t just affect their households but my business too,” said Raghav Gupta, owner of a wholesale shop in Kadamkuan.
Vinod Das, who helped his father at their shop, has asked him to stay at home. “Since the older people are more vulnerable to getting affected by the virus, I have stopped him from coming to the shop. Even after going home from work, I try to maintain distance from him as I don’t want to risk his life,” he said.
“It’s very difficult to manage the work like this. People, instead of making a queue, gather in crowds and at times fight among themselves,” he said.
Another shopkeeper, Seema Devi, who along with her husband has a general store near Digha Danapur Canal Road, said: “Our house is in Phulwarisharif, but we open the store around 7am and stay till evening as it is the only source of income for us.”
She added that the demands of people have increased to a great extent in the last few days. “People from different localities gather here and stocking up on essential commodities owing to the global Covid-19 outbreak. Some people are even visiting the shop almost every day,” she said.