Sarojini Nagar was teeming with people even as local trader association claimed the crowd was 20-30% down.
Sarojini Nagar was teeming with people even as local trader association claimed the crowd was 20-30% down.

Same old story at Sarojini Nagar, buzz missing at Karol Bagh

The New Delhi Municipal Council tried its bit to bring some order and challaned about 30 visitors for not following the guidelines.

NEW DELHI:  Crowds were back at Sarojini Nagar market despite the restrictions under Yellow alert being imposed to control the hordes of visitors turning it into a super spreader of  Covid infection.

Already in the news after a viral video showed stampede-like scenes, visitors were seen unmindful of social distancing norms as well as mask protocols at the South West Delhi market.

Struggling to contain the stream of shoppers, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) tried its bit to bring some order and challaned about 30 visitors for not following the guidelines.

“The crowd is now 20 to 30% less than the regular days. Since customers are not aware of which shop will open on which day, more crowds could be seen in particular shops,’’ Sarojini Nagar Market Traders’ Association president Ashok Randhawa said.

Lajpat Nagar also saw crowds neither queuing up for regulated entries, nor maintaining social distancing. People huddled up at road-side eateries.

But squatters operating from the pavements and outside the shops were mostly absent. In July, the Delhi Disaster Managaement Authority had closed the market after inspections had found flouting of rules

Though the shop owners followed odd-even norms, shoppers were least bothered about the rules.  Ankush, a salesman at a cloth store, conceded it was tough to request people to maintain social distancing norms.

“We keep asking them to apply sanitizer but they tell us that they have already applied. Most of them don’t wear masks. We ask them to wear masks for getting  entry the shop.” 

Businessmen rued about the piling losses because of the odd-even arrangement. Zafirul Hassan, owner of Value Mart, said he had reduced the number of salesmen as he faced 50 per cent reduction in profits.

“Half of our business has gone down the drain since the pandemic has struck, but we have to ensure salary of our salesmen,” said another show owner.

Karol Bagh — the one-stop destination for wedding shoppers — wore a deserted look. With half of the shops closed, some part of the market was converted into a non-motorized zone to avoid traffic. Police were in numbers to ensure compliance of rules.

Shoppers were disappointed as the usual hustle-bustle was missing. “This market is near my house and I am a frequent visitor. I am surprised to see the market with almost no visitors even near the year end,” Alishba, a shopper, said.

A salesman at Pantaloons store said customer flow was down to a trickle. “This is the time to earn profits by giving heavy discounts, but the government’s restrictions have dampened the festive mood.”

Similarly, the Connaught Place had fewer crowds than the normal days. Eateries maintained queues with 50 per cent occupancy. The ever popular Keventers outlet had around 20-25 people waiting for their turns to collect the coupons.

One of the officials from the SDM office at Connaught Place said, “We are trying to maintain the decorum in the market by deploying the task force at every starting and the end point of each of the blocks. No chaos has been witnessed so far in the market.”

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