Social distancing side-stepped during panic buying in TN

A visit by DT Next to Pursawalkkam, Choolai and Pattalam wholesale markets revealed not only social distancing norms going out of the window, but also scuffles over getting essentials.

“My house is located near the Kothwalchawadi market. People started thronging shops even before 6 am and the crowd swelled after 8 am and by noon, the queue stretched a few metres,” said T Karthikeyan, a resident of Krishnappa Tank Street Kondithope. Though the police urged the public to maintain social distancing, their voices went unheard.

“As the vegetable stock ran dry in my house, I visited Choolai market, but it was like Diwali during a medical emergency. I came back without buying much,” said Ajay Kothari Dhanendhar, a resident of Vepery. All the safety parameters being followed till now went for a toss. “Corporate hospitals and pharmacies operated with limited staff as the attendants came late after spending hours to buy groceries,” admitted an HR manager.When contacted, a senior civic official said the public behaviour was unexpected and showed they were losing patience over lockdown. Despite advisory clarifications, there were long queues. A few officials were busy with the central medical team that is now inspecting Chennai and it took time to issue clarification advisories, by then, the public had made a mess on Saturday, the official rued. “We thought of stocking up on sufficient essentials for the next four days, but it took more than an hour to finish our purchase. The grocery shops were running out of stock and charging us more than the MRP. We used to buy noodles for Rs 12, but they were being sold for Rs 15. When we questioned them they started misbehaving and threatened not to sell us anything,” said Shanthini N, a resident of Royapuram.

There were a few instances where bills couldn’t be provided and the milk stock reduced drastically with one person buying 10 packets each. “Usually, customers would come only after 8 am and we have asked them not to visit the shop more than once. But today people started queuing from 6 am and started bulk purchasing. We ran out of stock after 9 am and many had to return empty-handed,” said Shankaravel P, who runs a grocery shop at Old Washermenpet.