On Sunday afternoon, when R. Kanchana went to visit the local supermarket near her house in Kilpauk, she was surprised to see that there were barely any provisions on the shelf.
Whether it was in the food section, or the general supplies section, it appeared as if the shop had been ransacked.
According to residents, getting supplies in most areas has become difficult. While milk, milk powder and drinking water are the first to sell out, most of the shelves containing other supplies including biscuits, tea, coffee, and even sanitary napkins and soap were empty.
“Even though there was barely anything on the shelves, there were close to a hundred people waiting inside and outside the store to try and buy some provisions. Many of the small shops in the area had shut down,” she said.
Most shops in the city have not only run out of essential supplies, including mosquito coils and candles, but they say that people are buying everything in bulk.
“While some people are buying provisions to aid rescue work, others are stocking up because they are unsure when these items will be available again,” Natarajan, who runs a local grocery shop in Mandeveli said. He was forced to shut shop early after he ran out of provisions, and is waiting for supplies before he can open again.
As for the larger supermarkets, the situation is not much better. Devi, who manages a branch of a large supermarket chain in Thoraipakkam, said that although they had been open every day since the rains started, they were low on supplies.
“When we realised shops were overcharging customers for milk, we started procuring Aavin milk and selling them at cost price. On Sunday morning, we got almost 800 packets of milk, but the stock finished in under two hours. We are unsure when we will be able to restock fully,” she said.
