People queued up at markets, especially liquor stores, to stock up for the upcoming one-week lockdown in the city.
Liquor stores, which will remain closed during the week-long lockdown, saw a rise in demand on Monday.
“People experienced dry days for a couple of months during the previous lockdown. Having learned from the previous experience, they are stocking up. We saw long serpentine queues throughout the day and expect to do brisk business on Tuesday too,” said Ramanarayan, who runs a liquor store in Sahakar Nagar.
Liquor store owners had a tough time ensuring social distancing. Most had barred entry of customers inside the store, and had put up a counter outside.
While grocery stores will remain open till noon, citizens were seen stocking up on essentials.
“We saw a huge rush at our supermarket on Monday evening. We shall remain open through the lockdown. But there seems to be this fear that they won’t be allowed to venture out of their homes even to buy essentials. Others are worried that the lockdown may be extended,” said Raju, who owns a supermarket in north Bengaluru.
Despite Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa's assurance that the lockdown won’t be extended beyond a week, most citizens remain uncertain.
“Going by past experience and the rapid spread of COVID-19 in the city, there is no guarantee that the lockdown won’t be extended. Moreover, until recently, the Chief Minister had repeatedly said there will not be another lockdown,” said Dhananjay N., a software engineer who went shopping on Monday evening to stock up on essentials.