The weekend lockdowns im posed in Gautam Buddha Nagar district to contain COVID-19 has shifted the Sunday grocery stocking trips to Fridays, confined morning walkers within the boundaries of their housing societies and slightly increased waiting times at liquor shops.
Having already experienced a series of nationwide lockdowns, residents said they prefer to stay indoors between 10 p.m. on Friday and 6 a.m. on Monday rather than risk being questioned and issued fines by the police; or stand in queues at essential commodities stores, given the possibility of contracting COVID-19.
Stocking up
“My husband and I take turns to visit the grocery stores on alternate days to stock up on what we need,” said Sucheta Bhati, a resident of Omega I in Greater Noida.
“For the second week running, we have bought most vegetables and provisions till Friday. We cook enough to last us till Saturday and then order food on Sunday. A lockdown is in place but this time it is more manageable than the previous ones,” said her husband Ravi, a real estate agent.
Rajveer Pradhan, an avid morning walker, said: “I normally walk 2 km to and from a public park near my housing society but have had to compromise as I can’t move out of the main gate and have to walk inside,” he said.
Issues related to the entry of house helps at some apartment complexes have made the weekend lockdowns inconvenient.
“There are no issues that we face except the entry of house helps; the rules, left to local RWAs, are arbitrary,” said Bela Choudhary, who stays in a high-rise apartment complex in Pocket 7.
Sunil Kumar Gupta, who runs a pan shop in Alpha I, said he does most brisk business on Fridays with both his usual customers as well as “walk ins”. “It is just two days but customers still stock up,” he said.
Raghunandan Singh, whose AC maintenance services are much in demand given the time of the year, has added a few more slots to his working hours during the week. “I work two hours extra every day so that I can attend to all my clients and don’t have to venture out on the weekends,” he said.