Mumbai: No one gets the responsible citizen prize here

Shoppers at Crawford Market on Tuesday. Pic/Ashish Raje

Barely two days from Ganeshotsav on Tuesday, the markets in the city were chock a block with citizens who had forgotten Covid-19 appropriate behaviour. The civic administration has said they have requested the police to take action.

The streets of Dadar, Lalbaug, and Fort were so crowded that shopkeepers too were shocked. Many people had come for Ganeshotsav shopping. While the civic administration has said citizens should act responsibly, it has increased the number of clean-up marshals in market places and told them to be ruthless while fining the maskless.

A trader at CSMT said, "What I saw on Tuesday around 4pm was very shocking, as the entire lane behind my shop was filled with shoppers and hawkers. There was no fear of Covid."

Local idol sellers claimed that they are facing a low turnout and business is down. Pranay V, said, "Not many are turning up to purchase and are only coming in for enquiries." Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has talked of taking action against the unauthorised hawking. Civic sources said regular action is being taken against the hawkers.