Hyderabad got back in the groove on Tuesday as citizens poured into the streets to catch up on shopping and to reach offices which are being allowed to function from May 19.
While many infotech companies still have a work from home policy, many government offices are functional as are some franchisee stores. Not many cabs were visible on the roads though the cab aggregators sent messages to customers about the availability of the services. However, many autorickshaws could be seen on the road picking up and dropping commuters over short distances. Some restaurants put out notices about parcel service being available.
On the arterial roads of the city, many shops remained shuttered as shop owners awaited instructions about the odd-even rule. But the establishments that opened had no complaints.
“Business is good. I had 12 customers till now. Usually Tuesday is a holiday but I realised there will be demand and opened the salon,” said Shrikant, who runs a hair-cutting salon and returned from his hometown Chevella after hearing Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s announcement about easing of lockdown.
The Tuesday market near Kishen Bagh was chock-a-block with shoppers hours before Iftaar. Besides fruits, vegetables, groceries and goods of daily needs there were colourful clothes. “I want to buy clothes for my daughter. The other shops have not opened I have to decide now as I don’t know if clothes will be available tomorrow,” said Razzaq who lives in the N.M. Guda area. Even shop owners faced the dilemma about re-opening their shops.
“We thought we can open the shop today but the GHMC officials are marking the establishments with 1 or 2 to enforce odd-even rule,” said Muhammad Naseer of Rivaan Extension, a cloth showroom in Lad Bazaar. How the rule will be enforced remains to be seen as there are glitches. Two competing cafes near Charminar which are side by side have the same number 1 and one of them has another entrance marked with the number 2. So, while one of them has to be shut on odd days, the other will remain open on all days.
“Where is the virus? There is no sign of virus. Our shops were shut unnecessarily and we have suffered huge losses as the stored goods got damaged,” said Mukhtar Khan who runs a 100-year-old grocery store in the Chowk area.