Pothys mall that functions near Ayurveda College Junction was shut down by the district administration on Friday after a discount offered by the outlet for perishables attracted an uncontrollable crowd that blatantly violated the COVID-19 protocol.
An advertisement circulated by the store, which offered essential commodities including onion, potato, tomato, ladies finger, carrot and green chilly at a throwaway rate of ₹9 per kg for the day, apparently brought customers in droves.
The advertisement had its desired effect with people making a beeline for the store right from morning, but at the cost of throwing the pandemic restrictions to the wind.
Police intervention
The Vanchiyoor police, which had to intervene to rein in the crowd, registered a case by booking the proprietor under provisions of the Kerala Epidemic Diseases Ordinance, 2020 and ordered the store managers to shut the gate to bar further entry.
However, the instruction fell on deaf ears as the public continued to make a beeline for the store to exploit the discount offer.
This prompted senior district officials including Deputy Collector (Disaster Management) E.M. Safeer, Thiruvananthapuram tahsildar Harishchandran Nair, and officials of the city Corporation to rush to the store.
Violations
Several violations including failure to enforce social distancing and maintain a visitors’ register were also detected during their inspection. The mall was soon shut down for the rest of the day.
According to official sources, the grocery section will remained closed for the next two days, while the mall will be permitted to operate the other sections.
Permissible limits
The district administration will decide on the permissible limits of customers in the grocery section on the basis of its area prior to its reopening on Monday. A token system will also be put in place to streamline customer entry on the premises.
