Coronavirus Pune: Many smokers kick the butt amid lockdown

Coronavirus Pune: Many smokers kick the butt amid lockdown

Pune: Manish Sinha, a 38-year-old IT professional, working in a reputed company in Eon IT Park at Kharadi, had never imagined that he would spend 20 days of his life without a cigarette. Manish smokes on an average 10 to12 cigarettes in a day. But now since lockdown, he has not purchased a single piece of cigarettes.

The lockdown started in the country on March 25. Since then, only medical shops, groceries and vegetable shops have been operational. Initially, when the COVID-19 lockdown had just begun, many shop owners sold cigarette from back doors. After police started taking action, they stopped selling it. Similarly, some of the groceries shops also sold cigarettes, but when they ran out of the stock, they stopped it. Few others, who had adequate stock, sold it at higher prices.

Manish said, “Since my college days I smoke, and when I started working, I started smoking regularly. I never imagined that a pandemic would force me to live a peaceful life without a cigarette. I am happy with my current lifestyle, and I wish I would maintain it after COVID-19 too.”

There have been more than 1,000 cigarette shops available alone in Pune city. If we include Pimpri-Chinchwad and rural parts, it crosses more than 5000 shops where cigarette, betel and other chewing items are sold.

Not only men, but a large number of women are also addicted to smoking. But now, people feel life before coronavirus was easy when they easily used to light a cigarette.

Another IT professional Vishal Raj had never thought that during the lockdown, cigarettes would become so rare that it would force one to quit smoking.

He said, “Cigarette was a lifestyle before lockdown. When the government announced lockdown, I thought only transport services would be stopped, but when the ‘Pan-tapri’ and other shops where cigarettes were readily available also closed. After a week of lockdown, the shop owners were selling it for Rs two to three more for a single cigarette. Later, they started selling packets at doubled the price. Then I decided not to smoke any more. Now, I feel very comfortable.”

One of the big cigarette dealers in the city on condition of anonymity said, “We have a huge number of smokers in the city. Before lockdown, every day around two lakhs of packets of different brands was sold in the city. From the last two weeks, the market is down.”

A shop owner Navneet Kumar said, “When the government made it mandatory not to sell chewing tobacco, cigarettes were the only item from where we earned profits. However, the margin was low but managed to sell 40 packets in a day.”

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