Heavy crowd was seen along major roads in Udhagamandalam, Coonoor, Kotagiri and Gudalur on Tuesday as people rushed to shops and grocery stores to stock up on food supplies as they were left unsure whether shops will remain open past 6 p.m. on Tuesday. Local residents said that they wanted to stock up on supplies in case shops remained shut across the district, despite the fact that the district administration has assured residents that all shops and businesses offering essential services will remain open.
The crowd led to Commercial Road in Udhagamandalam becoming gridlocked with traffic, even as people crowded the Ooty municipal market and the farmers’ market in Udhagamandalam to purchase vegetables.
Due to tourist locations being shutdown, the Tibetan market in Udhagamandalam was completely closed. A few Tibetan residents, who run shops in the Tibetan market, said that they hoped that the district would be opened to tourists after March 31, as they would not be covered by any government welfare schemes for being given provisions. “As we are refugees, we will not be given any benefits, so we have to rely on making money from our businesses to make ends meet. So this shutdown has been especially hard for us, and we hope that it will not continue for much longer,” said a local Tibetan resident.
The district administration also organised for vegetables and essential supplies to be dropped off to differently-abled families in Kagguchi and Keradamattam in Kotagiri.
