VASCO
A day ahead of the 15-day statewide curfew, people in the port town on Saturday rushed to the markets and grocery stores to stock up supplies of groceries, fish, vegetables, fruits and other essential items.
There was a huge crowd in the markets prompting the police to appeal to the crowd to avoid panic buying and overcrowding in the market.
With the ignoring of several announcements and requests by Vasco PI Nilesh Rane, the police then flashed lathis to instil fear among the crowd to maintain social distancing in the market.
In a bid to capitalise on the huge business, a number of market vendors at the starting point of the vegetable market placed trays on both sides of the road, leaving little place for people to walk around and many were seen brushing against each other in the markets.
The police team armed with lathis directed the vendors to immediately clear the encroachments and to allow free movement of public. However, there was no lathi charge on the people.
The police also clarified on public announcements that panic buying and overcrowding was unnecessary as the markets would remain open on all 15 days of the curfew for the benefit of people.
Meanwhile, some people reported that vegetables and fruits were being sold at exorbitant rates, but vendors defended the higher rates and said they were themselves getting supplies at a higher price from their wholesalers.
Many appreciated the efforts by police to clear the encroachments and the crowd from the market.
"We had arrived to buy some fruits for a relative who is in the hospital fighting Covid, but the place here seemed like a feast with so many people around,” said a resident Rajesh Naik.
“Authorities must take strict action against vendors at the market who kept their products on the road, forcing people to brush against each other. The rates of fruits have skyrocketed and this pandemic seems to be an opportunity for some to fleece customers,” he added.
Another resident, Simon Fernandes, said the police should continue their drive to prevent overcrowding in public places.
"Many people don't understand requests and sometimes, police must be given a free hand to use lathis on people who are irresponsible and roaming without masks, crowding the markets and roaming around unnecessarily. It was only because of the fear of police action that the previous Janta Curfew last year was a success and Covid cases came down drastically," said Fernandes.
