A surge in prices of vegetables being sold near home or being home delivered has pushed residents to wholesale mandis, sending social distancing for a toss.
In what has emerged a major challenge for the health authorities, over 100 people gather everyday at the mandis in Sadar Bazar and Khandsa.
A majority of them are without masks and ignore circles marked outside shops. This has sparked the fear of cluster transmission among the health authorities.
As a damage control measure, an odd-even scheme is being applied, but it proved to be failure on the first day at the Khandsa mandi.
The mandi has 119 vegetable and 53 fruit shops while hundreds of retail vendors. The entry of retailers and the common man was banned and the odd-even formula initiated on Thursday.
As per the plan, shops were to open every alternate day, but this did not have much of an impact. Over 200 people arrived on Thursday, with many not sporting masks.
People complained that vegetables sold near home or home delivered were priced double or even triple and fruits were dearer, making these out of the reach of the middle class.
“Tomato is priced Rs 40 per kg here and Rs 100 a kg near my house. I am a school bus driver living on rent. I am not poor enough to get free ration. We have bought overpriced vegetables for 15 days, but cannot afford these now. I have no choice but to come here,” said Ram Sharan.
“Social distancing is the key now and such gatherings can be deadly. People need to stay at home to save themselves and others. We have shared a price list and will set things right. Give us a call if anybody ignores the price list, but do not step out,” said Gurugram DC Amit Khatri.
With poor availability of essentials near home in Nuh, hundreds of people had to step out every morning and come to the local market during lockdown relaxation hours.
“We understand the threat, but cannot die of hunger. We are not rich enough to buy and hoard ration for two months. We have to buy almost every other day,” said Nafis, a local resident.
This news has not been edited by Apni Kheti staff but has been published by various news feeds
Source: Tribune India
