First day of Calcutta lockdown: fearful city complies – Telegraph India

Most of the people who were out in the morning on Sunday, the first of the 15 days of strict Covid control measures in Bengal, were those heading for the market.

As the day progressed, the roads became deserted. Most of the vehicles were two-wheelers of food delivery personnel and ambulances. Metro takes stock of Day One.

Better compliance

Several police officers in the city said this time they had to spend less time and energy explaining the “lockdown rules” to people on the roads, compared to the efforts they had to make last year. The reason they cited — the fear of the virus has struck home much more effectively than it did last year.

“Fewer people were outside and the majority of them were aware of the lockdown rules. Most of the people who were prosecuted today were the ones travelling in private cars without any urgent or valid reason,” said an officer in the Bhowanipore area.

The markets, which had opened at 7am, started wrapping up from 10am. In Lake Market, Jadubabaur Bazar and Gairahat market, policemen were seen using hailers to prod traders and shoppers to leave as the 10am deadline approached. By 10.30am, most markets were shut.

On April 30, while announcing the first set of curbs, the state government had allowed markets to remain open in two windows — from 7am to 10am, and again from 3pm to 5pm. The afternoon slot was later revised to 5pm to 7pm.

But Saturday’s notice allowed only one slot — 7am to 10am.

“After the first announcement, we had trouble enforcing the 10am deadline. Some markets had stalls in the interiors that operated till noon. But today, the traders started wrapping up much earlier, many of them showing urgency without being prodded,” said a police officer.

Less panic

The markets and grocery stores were crowded on Sunday evening, raising fears of a rerun of the early stages of the lockdown last year, when people tended to hoard essential items. Many people had hoped the Sunday morning market would be chaotic.

But the day unfolded differently. The shops, from those selling groceries to fish, chicken and vegetables, were busy but the rush was manageable.

“I usually buy fish once every four or five days. Today, I am buying just a little more so that it lasts a week. But I will come to the market again next week,” Rumpa Sarkar, a Bhowanipore resident, told Metro at Jadubabur Bazar.

Grocery stores bore much of the brunt of the panic buying last year as people stocked up on everything they could — from edible oil and cereals to hand wash.

“The rush today was much less than last year,” said a grocer at Gariahat market.

Pharmacies were busy throughout the day but not any busier than they had been so long. Store owners said people were still stocking up on paracetamol and common cough syrups but the tendency was less acute than last year.

Not so sweet Sunday

The sweetmeat shops can remain open from 10am to 5pm, according to the Saturday notice. But even after the announcement, people flocked to sweet shops across the city on Saturday.

The traders were buoyed by the rush and expected a decent footfall on Sunday as well. But that was not to be.

Most shops remained empty throughout the window. “The only customers that we had were people returning from bazars in the morning,” said the owner of a sweet shop in New Alipore.

“The footfall was disheartening. Our Park Circus outlet still had some customers. But the Gariahat outlet was almost empty,” said Nilanjan Ghosh, of Mithai.

It was online orders that drove the sales on Day One, said the store owners.

Liquor leeway

Sale of liquor from retail counters has been suspended till May 30. Liquor stores across the city saw mad rush and long queues on Saturday evening, during the 5pm-7pm window. But online aggregators accepted liquor orders on Sunday. So did dedicated liquor delivery service providers.

“Liquor can be bought online like any other commodity and there was no embargo of home delivery through the e-commerce services,” said an excise department official.

Prosecution

Till 8pm on Sunday, Calcutta police had prosecuted 190 people on the charge of violating restrictions and seized 85 private cars after their owners allegedly failed to cite any satisfactory reason for being out on the road. The government order has restricted the use of private cars only for essential services.

At least 31 men were arrested and a couple of cars seized in Salt Lake, Lake Town, Bangur and New Town, among other places, an officer of the Bidhannagar commissionerate said.