While the doctors and the government are emphasising on maintaining social distancing to break the chain of coronavirus, the move seems to have failed at Delhi's biggest medicine market -- Bhagirath Palace.
Neither social distancing is being taken care of here nor any other preventive measures are being taken to avoid the spread of the deadly virus.
Despite the 21-day nationwide lockdown, huge crowds can be seen at the Bhagirath Palace market. Parking is full and the people can be seen standing close to each other at every shop here.
Disregard for social distancing
Resident of Mundka Devendra Sehrawat, who came to Bhagirath Palace to buy medicines, said, "Despite being the medicine market nobody here is concerned about the pandemic. People are spitting everywhere. Tea shops are open. People are standing close to each other at every shop. In this situation, even if a single corona infected person comes here he or she will infect hundreds of people."
Tea shops, cigarette shops are open here. Visitors, as well as shopkeepers, are buying tea from these shops even though the teacups are not washed with soap.
The permission to open Bhagirath Palace market was issued by the government as medicines to most parts of Delhi-NCR are supplied from here.
Business as usual amid lockdown
A wholesaler V.K. Jain said: "Customers coming to the market are not taking precautionary measures against coronavirus. They neither stand in queues as everyone wants to buy medicines first nor do they wear masks and gloves."
Another shopkeeper Sandeep Goyal said: "The crowd in the market is more than the usual days. Before the lockdown, only big dealers and stockists used to come here but now thousands of small shopkeepers of Delhi, Faridabad, Noida, Gurugram and Ghaziabad are also coming."
The police tried to limit the movement of vehicles here but the arrangements proved to be inadequate.
Surprisingly, hand sanitizers are being sold at almost every shop here but there is no arrangement to sanitize the hands of the customers or shopkeepers. People in huge numbers come here throughout the day which clearly signals towards an alarming situation in the capital and adjoining areas.
