Consumers complain of essentials’ shortage in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: Thirteen days into the lockdown, certain areas in the city are faced with a shortage of basic supplies — bread, eggs and milk. There’s also a thin inflow of pulses and wheat at some local kirana shops, say residents. While online stores are better stocked, the high demand has made it difficult for them to get a delivery slot, they add.
“The general stores in our area that open for two-three hours each day do not have any fresh supply of milk,” said Saira Ahmed, a resident of Kundanbagh in Begumpet.“Even the curd and buttermilk stock is mostly expired. It is clear that they haven’t received any stock lately,” she added.
For residents of Toli Chowki, it was essentials such as pulses, wheat and flour that were in short supply on Monday. “Most of the shelves were empty at the local stores. I could not get even half the things that were on my list,” said Nasreen F, a resident of Arvind Nagar Colony in Toli Chowki. In supermarkets of Somajiguda, buyers were seen queuing up for eggs that was available only in limited quantity.
While many turned to online retail stores, hoping to find stocks, they failed to find a delivery slot owing to a massive backlog of orders. “One has to be really luck to find a slot. Most of the times there aren’t available,” said Anushka, an app developer based in Gachibowli.
Grocery items apart, some medical shop owners in places such as Somajiguda reported a shortage of masks, sanitisers and handwashes.
Also hard to get is pet food with most products out of stock, especially in online stores, said pet owners who are now scanning local pet shops for supplies. “I have two pets. I always stock up on their food when I order online, but this time I could not get an available slot, so I had to look at local stores, but even they were mostly out of wet food. I could only get my hands on some dry food products,” said Megha S, a resident of Road No 87, Jubilee Hills.