Chief Minister Pramod Sawant opened grocery stores on Friday. (Representational)
Chaos reigned on the streets of Goa on Friday after Chief Minister Pramod Sawant decided to open grocery stores, a decision he said taken "under duress".
Thousands of people thronged the streets from as early as 5 am to scout for essential goods like rice, wheat flour, milk, oil and vegetables and mobbed grocers and other vendors, paying the due attention to the social distancing norms, with the police, though deployed across the state, seen not enforcing the regulations.
The Opposition has now slammed the Chief Minister for a "total collapse in administration".
Earlier on Friday, the availability of essential food supplies in most stores across Goa dried up in the first few hours itself, on account of the rush of local buyers, who have been under lockdown since March 22.
Goa had originally extended the one-day janata curfew by three more days, before seamlessly slipping into the 21-day curfew mode, with just a four-hour relaxation window on March 23.
"There were no dry essential goods available by 6 a.m. itself. Some stores were open, but there was such chaos and panic buying that we opted not to venture out for safety reasons," Engelbert D'Mello, a finance professional and a resident of Bastora village in North Goa said.
Panic buying and violation of social distancing norms were also evident in major cities like Panaji, Mapusa, etc.
Police, who have been criticised by civil society and the opposition in Goa for using excessive force and beating up people in order to enforce Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 21-day curfew over the last few days, didn't enforce of social distancing guidelines.