#UnlockDiaries: Malls reopen with safety measures in place, footfall low

On the first day of Unlock1.0, the largest mall in the city was disconcertingly silent. Though most stores were open in South City Mall, the biggest crowd was in the basement, which houses a major grocery retail store. The large screen in the lobby was not showing some advert or show as it used to; instead, it kept flashing a message on how visitors should maintain a minimum distance of 2 metres from each other, how the lifts would allow only six persons at a time instead of 25 et al.

Speaking to us about the safety norms in place, Deep Biswas, the deputy general manager of the mall, said that all corridors have been made one-way. “People can walk in and go out the other end; no one is allowed to retrace their path. We have deployed hand sanitisers at two points at the entrance and every visitor has to undergo thermal screening. Anyone with a body temperature above permissible limits won’t be allowed inside. Even the escalators have shoe-prints on every alternative step to show people where to stand while using them. Every store has made individual safety arrangements in coordination with us. In the bathrooms, washbasins and toilet seats have been blocked so that people can use them only while maintaining a safe distance,” he said.

The food court, which used to teem with guests before the lockdown, was nearly empty. The seating arrangements have been altered keeping social distancing in mind. Though the chairs and tables are placed more or less in the same way, alternate seats have been marked unusable to ensure social distance among guests.

We came across Priyadarshini Kar and her partner enjoying a quiet south Indian lunch at the food court. When asked about the experience of coming to the mall, she said, “We came to mall today after a very long time. The place is nearly empty and as soon you enter they make you use a hand sanitizer and there’s a temperature check. The ambience is so different from what it used to be. The outing has been nice after being stuck at home for so long and even the mall people have ensured the safety of visitors. But it’s a different experience altogether.”