Jagadish Market inches towards normalcy during #Unlock1

One of the city’s busiest mobile and electronic markets, Jagadish Market, is usually busy and crowded on any given day.It’s always bustling with people visiting the market from all over Hyderabad and its neighbouring districts. During lockdown, the Jagadish Market was closed for more than 80 days. After the restrictions were lifted during Unlock-1, the market is now open to public.However, even the ones who are bored at home seem to be thinking twice before stepping out as the market still lacks its usual crowd. The shopkeepers at the market take measures against Covid-19, using sanitisers and masks as protection. Few shops also install transparent cover sheets to ensure a wall of safety between the customer and the shopkeeper.“The pandemic has affected our business as we had no choice but to close our shops,” says Rupesh Jain, owner of a mobile store at the market. “We had zero income the last three months and paying rents, maintaining staff proved to be an extra burden. But now, even after the market is reopened we’re struggling as there are no customers. Hopefully better days are to come,” he adds.President of Jagadish Market, Aamir Khan, states that they’re doing their best to get used to the new normal. “We’re taking all precautions and have asked all shopkeepers and staff to use masks, maintain social distance from customers and to use sanitisers. Due to lockdown, we are short of new stock as spare parts are yet to arrive from China. But I guess it’s a good sign that the public is slowly coming back to the market,” he says.A student from the city, Akhilesh Kumar, is there to get his phone’s display fixed. “My screen broke during lockdown and it was a helpless situation. As the market is open, I finally came to fix my phone. It’s good to see everyone taking precautions as I was initially sceptical to step out,” he says.