Mumbai: In Andheri and Vile Parle, locals stay away from panic buying

DMart near Andheri East station is issuing coupons to control the crowd

With the city going into lockdown for the next 15 days, not much crowd was seen outside grocery stores and supermarkets in the Andheri East and Vile Parle areas as opposed to what it was last year. A lot of panic buying happened after a nationwide lockdown was imposed in 2020, but this time people chose to stay away from the chaos and many were even positive about the availability of essentials during the curfew period.

Big outlets like DMart focused on reducing the crowds by starting the coupon system again, while other grocery stores in the areas were seen running as usual.

Some of those who went to DMart near Andheri East station later in the day had to return without their essentials as the shop had started issuing coupons early in the morning and only those with coupons were allowed to enter.

Customer Prabhakar Nadar, who had to return as he did not have a coupon, said, "I recently shifted to a new house and wanted to shop for a number of products. I would have got everything here, but now it looks like I will have to wait till I get a coupon." Sources said that the coupons would be given early in the morning and they were limited in number too.

The scene outside Vile Parle station, where there is usually a lot of crowd, was quite different on Wednesday. Further, even the big supermarkets at Andheri East did not see much crowd and shoppers said it was a regular day for them.

Customer Geeta Harsora said, "I usually come here to buy my monthly groceries. Today there is slightly more crowd than usual but no panic buying is happening. We are sure that groceries will be available."