By Express News Service BENGALURU: The city seems to have learnt nothing from the other districts or Tier-2 cities. On Saturday, in just two and half hours after the makeshift market at National College Grounds in Basavanagudi was opened, it had to be shut down due to the chaos and rush. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) commissioner, who visited the grounds on Saturday morning to assess the situation, said that he was shocked seeing the rush and immediately ordered that the market be shut down. While the police were making people vacate the ground and were stopping more people from entering, and shop keepers were packing their stocks, many customers made away with a lot of things without paying. The rush made it all the more easier for them to flee. the commissioner said, “The grounds have been closed down immediately. Though it was proposed that 50 stalls would be permitted in the market with proper demarkation and the preparations are underway, the final decision will be taken later. However, permission has been given to joint commissioners to set up smaller markets at various grounds in the city. If the crowds increase, then the markets will be closed immediately.” The college grounds had been converted into a market space on the directions of MP Tejasvi Surya and corporator Uday Garudachar. However, the preparations were inadequate as compared to other districts and Tier-2 cities. Rekha T, resident of Basvandgudi, who had come to the ground at 10 am in the morning said, “As there are not many vegetable vendors on the roads and even the shops are closed, we decided to go to the National College grounds. There was a huge crowd there with more than 200 people. Social distancing was not maintained at all. The BBMP had made no arrangements and people were crowding next to each other. It was total madness.” Samuel Samson, a resident of Gandhinagar, said, “The moment I saw the crowd, I walked out of the place. There were no markings on the ground as is seen in other stores to maintain social distance. That place seemed like an easy spot to help coronavirus spread. I did not even enter.” One of the wholesale market traders said, “We were asked to put up a stall. Later, as there were many people, we were asked to shut it down. The officials should have planned this properly in advance and then should have opened this for people. It was of no gain to us or people.”

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