Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, March 25

The first day of the countrywide lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus saw Mumbaikars scramble for supplies as grocers and vegetable vendors ran out of stock.

Shops began emptying out from Tuesday evening when people rushed out to stock up on food and medicines after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the 21-day lock down.  Shopkeepers who restock their stores 3-4 times a week say they have not been able to get fresh stock from their distributors.

“We have not getting stock from our distributors. Milk powder, instant noodles, onions, potatoes, packaged foods are going out stock,” a provision store owner from Dahisar in suburban Mumbai owner said.

Though milk was available this morning, it is not clear whether supply would be available during the remaining days of the lockdown, according to traders.

“We won’t keep the shop open only to sell milk. It is not worth the trouble,” another shopkeeper told this reporter.

Vegetable vendors said they were not getting enough stock from the wholesalers. Traders at the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee Market at Vashi in Navi Mumbai which supplies fruits and vegetables to Mumbai have been shut for the past three days. “We have stock for vegetables for one day. Trucks carrying vegetables are stuck on highways because of the lockdown,” a trader from the APMC said.

Though the Maharashtra government has assured the public that essential supplies would not be affected, police personnel on the ground are said to be harassing truck drivers. On Tuesday, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray asked senior police officials to ensure that truckers waiting on roadsides are not troubled. Thackeray’s intervention came after videos of policemen beating up truck drivers looking food by the roadside was circulated on social media.

State government sources say the Thackeray administration has been co-ordinating with various departments to ensure that the supply chain between rural and urban Maharashtra was not disrupted during the lockdown.

The lockdown also affected supply of essential items by online portals. Websites like Flipkart, Amazon Pantry, Snapdeal, BigBasket and others have announced suspension of deliveries during the period of the lockdown. Many of them have complained that their delivery personnel have been harassed or beaten up by the police.

Later this afternoon, Deputy Commissiner of Police Pranay Ashok said the state government was working with e-commerce portals and big retailers to provide home-delivery of essential goods to prevent people crowding shops.