CHENNAI: Supermarkets and grocery stores were overcrowded on Saturday evening soon after the government announced total lockdown from Monday. While people below poverty line are worried how they are going to make it through the week, several netizens have requested the government to reconsider opening the shops. As soon as the news of total lockdown spread, the residents of Chennai started gathering with huge bags, in front of the supermarkets.
While popular supermarkets in commercial areas had long queues of at least half a kilometre, few supermarkets and grocery stores inside the residential area had fewer people. Thus the huge gathering of people were concentrated in small places.
The decision not to open grocery stores and vegetable markets have created lots of confusion among the public. “I have been out of work for almost a month and living on borrowed money from kith and kin. How do you expect me to buy a week’s worth of groceries for my family of seven?” laments G Jagadeesan, a daily wage worker in the city.
Similarly, small scale restaurants are in danger of running out of supplies within one or two days, says K Bhuvaneshwari, who runs an eatery in Ice House. She added that if they could not get vegetables as usual they would have to shut shop.
Several journalists, activists and citizen volunteer groups have started requesting the government to reconsider opening the grocery stores on a daily basis for the next one week. People have also questioned demanding a clear answer of how vehicles provided by the Horticulture Department will feed lakhs of people in the city everyday.
The decision to allow buses around the State has brought backlash as doctors have taken to social media to express their concern of a new cluster forming. “Already there is a huge crowd in commercial areas and now people travelling on buses have more chances of contracting the virus,” said a doctor in a private hospital.
Thousands thronged the streets of Parrys and Broadway as shops were opened. Several non-essential shops like boutiques and petty shops were also opened throughout the city. People constantly arrived at bus stands and were seen hurriedly leaving the city in Koyambedu bus terminus since Saturday evening.