Within a couple of days of state-wide lockdown being imposed in Uttarakhand, some people have already started facing challenges mainly in securing their provision of essentials and daily needs. The citizens state that they do support the decision taken by the Government in order to stall the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) but they are not happy with the approach of administration towards the management of the household things required for the survival at every home.
In Dehradun and some other cities, some citizens complained that the administration is compelling the citizens to stay at home due to lockdown but failing to ensure the provision of necessary items through the proper implementation of law and order. "I called the grocery shops on Tuesday which were apparently marked by district administration for the home delivery of necessary grocery items but none of them agreed to deliver at our home. Most of them refused saying that they cannot send people further than two kilometres or stated that they do not have enough staff. I and some of my neighbours asked them to bring essential items for five families thinking that the shop owner will deliver the items considering the profit but they did not agree," said Jakhan resident Amar Singh.
Karnpur resident Shruti Khansali said, “I called one of the grocery stores in Hanuman Chowk which was in the list issued by the Police department for the home delivery of the grocery items. The woman who received the call refused of even having a grocery store on being asked about the home delivery facility. I got the same response from three other stores. At last, I had to request the store owner near our locality to provide me some household items. I do not know how we will tackle the situation if the government extends the lockdown period after March 31 with such management.”
Besides the grocery items, some people also had to suffer because of the pending deliveries of cooking gas cylinders, medicines and newspapers. “I booked my gas cylinder last week which was supposed to be delivered on this Monday but I have not got it till now. The gas agency told me that they are facing a shortage of delivery men due to the threat of coronavirus so it will cause some delay in the delivery. We are happy to cooperate with the government but we do need basic amenities for survival during the lockdown. It is very hard for old people like us," said Dev Dutt, a senior citizen living in Haldwani.
On being asked about not complaining about their issues to the police, most of the people said that they were not aware that police can be contacted for such issues. While some of them were confused if such issue will be taken seriously by the police, the remaining people opined that they have never contacted police ever, so approaching police for a problem that might appear 'petty' to police felt unworthy.