GUILHERME ALMEIDA
MARGAO
Call it panic buying or simply making provision for the monsoon season, markets in the commercial capital witnessed brisk buying of essential food items.
And notwithstanding the coronavirus scare, the markets in Margao witnessed a huge rush of customers, particularly women, for the third day today.
Both the New Market as well as the Gandhi Market, besides other wholesale establishments recorded brisk business, with people crowding at stalls just to lay their hands on the grocery items.
If the pharmacies and medical stores witnessed brisk sale of face masks and sanitizers around a week ago when the country recorded positive cases of coronavirus, the grocery shops and stalls selling onions were the most sought after establishments as people queued up to make the panic purchases.
Amongst the items on the shopping list incude rice bags, sugar, spices, flour, oil . Though people normally make provision for the monsoons around April and May, they seemed to have preponed the annual shopping as evident by the rush at stalls selling chilies, onions and tamarind.
Taking advantage of the situation, resulting in an imbalance in the demand and supply, some unscrupulous traders are believed to have hiked the prices of chilies and tamarind by a few rupees. People, however, did not complain as they appeared desperate to lay their hands on the necessities.
Sources in the know informed that rice bags, sugar, flour and other grocery items were in huge demand, with traders attributing the situation to panic buying. “This kind of buying trend is normally in preparation for the long monsoon season starting in June. However, this appeared to be panic buying,” a trader observed.
President of the Madgaum New Market Traders Association, Vinod Shiodkar, made a fervent plea to the members of the public not to resort to panic buying. “This beeline outside the shops for purchase is not good at a time when the coronavirus scare is at its peak. Individuals should adopt safety precautions to protect themselves and others,” Shirodkar added.
