 "Panic among people after rumours of salt shortage in Allahabad (Pic: ANI)")
Amid rumours of a salt shortage in different parts of Delhi, National Capital Region (NCR) and Uttar Pradesh, both central and Delhi governments on Friday clarified there is no such shortage.
"There is no shortage of salt. State governments have all powers to ensure its availability at reasonable prices," a central government spokesperson said.
The clarification came after rumours were rife that the price of salt has gone up to Rs 250 per kg in Delhi/NCR and Rs 400 per kg in Uttar Pradesh.
This led to a panic-like situation in Noida, Laxmi Nagar, Chandni Chowk and some other places in the national capital.
"The department monitors the prices of 22 essential commodities on daily basis. As per the prices reported by centres from across the country, there has been no increase in price of salt whatsoever," Department of Food and Consumer Affairs said in a statement.
There has been no report about any disruption in production of salt, its supply and distribution, it added.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also took to Twitter to dispel the rumours.
"Some people are spreading rumours that there is a shortage of sugar and salt. This is completely false. Anyone hoarding salt won't be spared," he tweeted.
Manish Sisodia, the Delhi deputy chief minister, also urged people of Delhi not to believe on the rumours.
"There is no shortage of salt in Delhi. Teams of SDMs and Food Supply Officers are patrolling. Salt is available everywhere. No cause for panic," Sisodia tweeted.
On his part, Delhi Food and Supplies Minister Imran Hussain also held an urgent meeting at his residence following the rumours.
Meanwhile, tension prevailed in southeast Delhi's Jamia Nagar area as residents hurled stones at police buses amid rumours of shortage of salt and hike in prices of the essential commodities.
As rumours spread, scores of people stepped out on the Kalindi Kunj-Jamia Nagar road and vandalised buses, a senior police officer said.
They also threw stones at the police buses which were rushed to the spot to control the situation. Four policemen have been reportedly injured in the incident, he said.
While police were trying to calm things down, a rumour spread that a trader was shot at during a fight due to the shortage of salt, he said.
Police placated the residents and brought the situation under control. Additional force from a neighbouring police stations was also called in, he said.
A large number of police personnel are deployed in the area in view of the incident.
Earlier, rumours of no salt stocks in Uttar Pradesh led to panic buying in many parts of the state.
Lucknow Senior Superintendent of Police Manzil Saini trashed reports on paucity of salt and dubbed it as "mischief" by some rumour mongers.
While it was yet to be determined how the rumour started, people flocked to grocery shops and retail outlets in large numbers to buy salt in large quantities. As the panic spread, several quintals of salt vanished from shop shelves.
In some areas salt was said to be selling, if available, anywhere between Rs 100-200 per kg.
Meanwhile, police was directed to increase patrolling as the rumour could result in a law and order situation, an official told IANS.
Lucknow Inspector General of Police A Satish Ganesh asked all SSPs in the zone to start special patrolling in busy thoroughfares and markets to prevent untoward incidents.
A special team has been put on the trail of a message that went viral within minutes of appearing on social media sites, triggering panic.
In Mumbai too, police officials stepped in on Saturday to dispel rumours about steep hike in prices of essential commodities including salt.
"Rumours about price hike are doing rounds. These are baseless," police spokesperson DCP Ashok Dudhe said.
Mumbai police control room was inundated with frantic calls from people wanting to know if the prices had really skyrocketed.
There were rumours about some shop owners selling salt at Rs 700 per kg in eastern suburbs.
After demonetisation of high currency notes of Rs 1000/500, people are facing shortage of cash. Rumours were spread about shortage of salt and sugar, police said.
Some shop owners in eastern suburbs took advantage of the situation, police said.
Shop owners from Govandi, Shivajinagar, Bainganwadi, Mankhurd, Antop hill were allegedly selling salt at higher rates. Some citizens contacted police control room and provided information.
Police teams visited these shops to prevent such sales.
It also appealed to Mumbaikars via Twitter not to believe rumours, saying there is no shortage of salt or any other necessary commodity nor is there any price hike.
A police official said the rumours may have originated from Uttar Pradesh.
