Essentials home delivered, 2 Ngp tehsils show the way

Soumitra Bose | TNN | Apr 16, 2020, 04:07 IST

Nagpur: In yet another first in the district, residents in Saoner and Kalmeshwar tehsils are set to have their essential commodities like groceries, vegetables and also LPG cylinders delivered at the doorstep. This is being introduced as a pilot project to reduce crowding at shops, markets and also on roads to contain spread of the coronavirus.
Some of the services have already kicked off from Monday helping citizens to stay at home in the backdrop of the national lockdown.
Sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Atul Mhetre of Saoner sub-division said nine shops ensured 209 home deliveries on Monday itself, which meant that many people were stopped from coming onto the roads. “In Saoner too, 12 grocery shops had sent deliveries to 48 homes,” he said.
After ordering petrol pumps to deliver fuel to only those private users who have passes issued by the officials, the tehsil administration has now made this unique arrangement to ensure that citizens get maximum supplies of their daily essential commodities at the doorstep.
Mhetre said we discussed the home delivery option with grocery shop associations, vegetable commission agents and LPG dealers and sought their cooperation. “The association members furnished names, contact numbers and details of their location to the chief officer of the respective municipal council, who later circulated it on different social media groups from where the citizens started placing orders. The home deliveries were effected by the shop owners with the help of two-wheeler riders for whom police permissions were arranged,” he said.
Mhetre informed that 60 commission agents of Saoner were contacted for purchasing farm produce from local farmers and supply the same to 120 retail sellers, who had been earlier advised to arrange hand carts or cycle rickshaws to transport the goods. “Similarly, commission agents in Kalmeshwar too were convinced to purchase vegetables from local farmers and bring it to the towns where retailers would then take it to different localities. This would prevent crowding in the market place,” he said.
The SDM said in similar fashion, distributors and dealers of LPG cylinders too were contacted and their database has been prepared. “We have asked the LPG distributors to visit the residences of their customers to take bookings and also deliver cylinders. In case there is offline booking, the distributors can later update their systems,” said Mhetre.