Supply chain failure brings more woes

TNN | Apr 8, 2020, 04:13 IST

Bhubaneswar: The 48-hour shutdown in Bomikhal, Suryanagar, Kapila Prasad and Jadupur areas of the capital city has come as a double whammy for the residents. First, the containment measure itself had caught most off guard and now that it has been lifted, many are finding it difficult to get hold of essential supplies. That’s because many of the vendors had left the city on account of the shutdown, resulting in closed shops and depleted counters.
“On Sunday evening and Monday, no vendor visited our locality. On Tuesday evening, I got some essential items after a prolonged wait. It’s very painful,” said Ramesh Sahu, a resident of Bomikhal. “The BMC should engage more authorized vendors so that people don’t have to wait endlessly to buy vegetables and groceries,” he said.
“There is no prior information about where the vendors would come and when. They are not going door-to-door. They are setting up stall at certain places. I waited for close to two hours to buy some vegetables,” said Meeta Sahoo, a resident of Jay Durga Nagar under Bomikhal.
Kamaljit Das, the deputy commissioner of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) who is in charge of the supply chain to these areas, admitted there was some disruption, but said it was restored on Tuesday evening.
“Many vendors had left the city because neither the markets were open and nor were the vendors permitted to supply essential commodities in the restricted zone. It was on Tuesday evening that we managed to re-organise the authorized vendors and asked them to sell the essential items. Different vendors have been asked to supply different items,” said Das.
For Bomikhal containment zone, four mobile grocery vans and vegetable counters each, one fruit van, two Omfed milk vans and one egg van have been authorised while for Suryanagar, two vegetable and grocery vans along with one milk and egg vans each have been pressed into service. Similar number of vendors have been authorised for Jadupur and Kapila Prasad areas.
The BMC on Monday sent mobile ATMs to the containment zones to help people withdraw cash. The doorstep facility has been introduced to stop people from leaving their homes.
The BMC has also put up phone numbers and names of vendors so that residents can call and order essentials.