On Saturday, markets in Chennai witnessed huge crowds as people started streaming in, some with masks and some without, from early morning. More than 150 people crowded the market lane of Chintadripet, Chennai, disregarding social distancing norms. Each shop had at least 20 customers in cramped spaces, yelling and trying to get their hands on anything that they could find in the shops. The shelves in small kirana stores became empty within a few hours into the day.
The sudden rush of consumers was because of the announcement made by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Friday. The state government is imposing a complete lockdown of five cities -- Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Salem and Tiruppur -- for four days, starting from April 26. As per the directions, in these regions, groceries and vegetables can only be purchased at wholesale markets or the mobile shops and pushcarts arranged for by the city Corporations.
Apart from this, the Collectors of districts surrounding Chennai have also issued blanket bans in their respective districts, namely Chengalpattu, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram.
The blanket bans triggered panic buying among the residents of the cities, mainly Chennai and Madurai. The residents rushed to do their last minute shopping once the shops started to function on Saturday. Lakshmi, one of the customers hurriedly purchasing milk, eggs and other essentials in Chennai, said, “We didn’t store much food at home because it was going stale. We were also experiencing frequent power cuts, so we couldn’t trust the fridge much. But the blanket ban was announced suddenly and so we all got alarmed. What will we do without essentials? That’s why I have rushed to the market to buy everything for the next one week.”
Today at Royapuram market. Just a reminder that this is a hotspot which has had 133 #COVID19 positive cases in Chennai. @xpresstn @NewIndianXpress @chennaipolice_ @chennaicorp @CMOTamilNadu pic.twitter.com/ZJReE7GB2S
— Omjasvin M D (@omjasvinMD) April 25, 2020
The officials, however, deemed the panic buying unnecessary and said that norms have been relaxed. According to a press release issued by the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) on Saturday, vegetable shops can remain open from Sunday to Wednesday. However, grocery stores that also sell vegetables should be closed.
Talking to TNM, Karthikeyan, Member-Secretary,
The Tamil Nadu government has also announced that shops can function till 3 pm on Saturday alone in cities that come under the blanket ban.
On the functioning of Chennai's Koyambedu market on Sunday, the Koyambedu police station inspector Madeswaran said, “Markets are functioning normally. We are witnessing only the regular crowd and people are not rushing to Koyambedu. We are allowing only wholesale vendors after 7 am but the decision on allowing them tomorrow will be informed only by the Corporation. We are waiting for the orders.”