BHUBANESWAR: A day after the State Government directed closure of shopping malls amidst COVID-19 scare, customers rushed to convenience stores to stock up on staple food items in the Capital on Monday.
Rohan Mohanty, an employee of a retail outlet at Saheed Nagar, said there was an unprecedented rush since morning.
“Between 10 am and 5 pm, staple food items like, rice, lentil (dal), wheat flour, cooking oil and others, worth over Rs 1.4 lakh were sold against a maximum sale of `1 lakh on any normal business day,” he said.
Similarly, personal care products like hand sanitisers, hand wash, soaps, wet tissue papers and other such items worth Rs 1.5 lakh were sold by the store against sales worth Rs 60,000 on any other day.
Commissioner of Police Sudhanshu Sarangi on Sunday ordered closure of all malls in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar till March 31 but allowed commercial establishments selling essential commodities like groceries, vegetables and fruits, milk and medicines to remain open to facilitate customers.
Prabhat Behera, manager of a retail store in Jharpada said the sale of staple food items and personal care products between 10 am and 4 pm on Monday was double compared to a normal business day.
Though there is heavy rush, we are limiting the entry of customers at a time by closing the main gate of the store, he added.
Prashant Nayak, manager of a convenience store in Unit-IV, said there was a surge in customers on Monday but they could not abide by the direction of police as some buyers entered into a heated argument with them over closure of main gate in intervals. Locals rushed to the stores anticipating shortage of essential commodities in the coming days if the State Government decides to direct closure of grocery shops as well.