A lockdown of 21 days as precautionary measures for preventing the spread of COVID-19 has resulted in panic buying by the people in Belagavi. Thus, provision shops to hypermarket chains are running out of stocks and they are not being sure when the next schedule of supply by distributors and companies will come.
Police facilitated people to buy essentials like provisions and vegetables since Wednesday amidst warning that they maintain social distancing in shops and near vegetable vendors.
Belagavi City Corporation on Wednesday conducted a drive to mark social distancing marks before shops and hypermarket chains in the city.
Hypermarket chains allowed a minimum of five people inside at a time to make purchases and entry of more was allowed only after those who had entered earlier exited.
Many families were seen making purchases in huge quantities to meet the requirements of more than a month that led in the shelves becoming empty and others wanting essentials returning empty-handed.
Wheat flour, sugar, rice, fast foods, ready to cook and other items went out of stock by Wednesday in many stores and storekeepers were not aware of the supply from distributors with restricted movement of vehicles due to lockdown.
Despite District Administration announcing that shops selling essential will remain open, panic purchase by the people has exhausted stocks. We do not know when the next round of supply will be available. We are not ration shops to give stocks as per allocated quota, hence were helpless when customers demanded more than regular purchase indents, echoed many storekeepers on Thursday.
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