Delhi weekend curfew brings back memories of last year's lockdown

Deserted roads, shuttered-down high streets and empty eateries haunted traders and retailers on Saturday

The year’s first weekend curfew in Delhi brought back memories of last year’s stringent lockdown, which had halted life and taken a heavy toll on livelihoods.

It was as though the clock had been turned back — so strong was the sense of déjà vu. Deserted roads. Shuttered shops. The vigil by men in uniform. Sights still imprinted in the mind from last year. In a flash, they all returned.

Connaught Place (CP), Delhi’s heritage high street, hardly received any visitors. Except for a handful of bank branches, the India Post Office and half a dozen restaurants in the inner circle, all outlets remained closed on Saturday. Restaurant staff, the few who had enthusiastically opened up their eateries in the morning, were feeling desolate and listless.

Take, for instance, the CP outlet of Nando's. The Afro-Portuguese restaurant chain usually makes sales worth Rs 300,000 a day. But since the rapid surge in Covid cases and the curfew announced by the authorities, sales have plunged. On Friday, it managed to sell food worth only Rs 22,000 — less than 10 per cent of its daily average. And on Saturday, till 4 pm, it had only handed two deliveries, said the manager at Nando’s, CP.

Other popular eateries such as Khan Chacha, Burger King and Café Coffee Day shared Nando’s misery. While the only Burger King outlet operational in the inner circle had registered no pick-up or delivery orders till afternoon, Khan Chacha managed to deliver a handful of orders via Swiggy and Zomato.

On Sunday, even this small trickle of orders dried up as the few permitted offices like banks and the post office remained shut.

For CP-based restaurateurs, their biggest advantage has turned into their biggest threat. Being at the centre of a business district, closure of offices means near-zero business, they lamented.

The scene of desolation was even more stark at Delhi’s upscale Khan Market. With heavy police deployment at its main entry gate, the place, which is counted among the world’s most expensive retail locations, was devoid of its weekend vibes. Unlike CP, the much sought-after eateries and hangouts at the market that caters, among others, to the diplomatic crowd, were totally out of business.

Further south, at the usually bustling Lajpat Nagar Central Market, the designer sari, lehenga, curtain and shoes stores that hundreds flock to on any given weekend remained locked. With Delhi Police barricades blocking entry and exit to the market from both sides, the otherwise jam-packed arterial roads offered stray dogs a field day.

Given the state of affairs, traders and retailers have predicted massive loss to business. Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO of Retailers Association of India (RAI), pegged the loss of business for high street outlets at 40-45 per cent of their weekly sales. Delhi’s fashion and appeals market, largest among Indian cities, alone is estimated at Rs 1.8 trillion a year or Rs 3,400 crore per week. Opposing the stringent curfew, RAI has demanded that all shops be allowed to deliver goods at the customers’ doorstep.

National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI) also wants round-the-clock food delivery to be allowed since daily night curfew has impacted business. Restaurant and eatery operators at Chittaranjan Park said business was down by 50 per cent during the weekend. For some, the loss was even greater. With two out of the four municipal markets shut, many did not get to open their outlets at all. 

“Once again, our restaurants are relegated to being delivery kitchens,” said Anurag Katriar, president, NRAI. “A sense of pessimism has replaced our short-lived optimism and we are once again back to fighting for our survival.” Dine-in contributes over half of the sales during weekends. That’s been wiped out now.

According to the Shopping Centre Association of India, which represents organised retail establishments like malls and shopping arcades, business that had recovered to near normal levels with monthly sales of Rs 15,000 crore by mid-March is down to half since restrictions were re-imposed in several parts of India. In Delhi, as malls are ordered to remain shut for the rest of the month, business in April will be near zero, mall owners told Business Standard.

Meanwhile, 24x7 convenience stores continued to operate during the curfew. But unlike last time, visits to these outlets remained low. While the abrupt and extraordinary nature of the lockdown last year had left many unprepared, this time most people had stocked up on cigarettes, energy drinks and ice-creams in advance.

Traffic movement in most areas, however, remained higher than on any previous lockdown day. Police personnel on duty said there were nearly twice as many private vehicles on the roads than during the same time in 2020. One of the key factors that eased communication this time was that essential service workers were allowed to travel with valid identity cards, unlike earlier, when only e-passes would have secured uninterrupted travel.

From bank and restaurant employees to private security personnel, everybody felt the system was much smoother this time.

While the extent of loss to business is yet to be ascertained, the first day of the weekend curfew left many with a niggling sense of unease. Ram Saran Singh, a private security guard at the flagship Croma outlet in CP, was in a sombre mood. Was the two-day curfew a sign of things to come, he wondered. For Singh, who belongs to Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, the wounds of last year's agony are still fresh. Many of his friends and acquaintances from Delhi paid a heavy price. He and his colleagues at the market now hope the second wave does not cause the same havoc as the first one did.

Meanwhile, despite the massive losses anticipated, the Confederation of All India Traders on Sunday demanded a 15-day total lockdown in Delhi to break the chain of infection.