Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday said there was no shortage of medicines but reminded people that this was a period of crisis and not everything could be same as they were before.

Across parts of Calcutta items such as bread and milk have been in short supply. Distribution of grocery items continue to be irregular in pockets, though the wholesale market for such products in Posta reopened on Friday.

“There is shortage of staff in some bakeries. So what if you don’t get bread, eat chapattis,” Mamata said at Nabanna during a news conference on Friday. “We want the bakeries to open. But you will have to remember those working in the bakeries have to take care of their children, too.”

Things that many take for granted are a rare privilege now. Mamata underscored the point herself. “You can’t step out to have your shoes polished now and complain the cobbler is missing. They are human beings, too” she said.

There are over 800 bakeries across Calcutta and some of them, including a few in central Calcutta’s Taltala, have downed their shutters as employees left for home before the lockdown kicked in. The employees are mostly from adjacent districts.

As for medicines, the chief minister said at Nabanna: “There is no shortage. We received a few complaints yesterday and those have been taken care of. If there is any complaint about shortage of medicines, let us know.”

Supply of medicines was partly hit in some pockets as shops in Bagri Market that sell drugs to retailers closed after the lockdown started. Most shop-owners said their staff failed to reach the Burrabazar wholesale hub because of the lockdown.

Shops in Mehta Building, another wholesale drug hub in Burrabazar, also remained shut. Sources said Mehta and Bagri markets together account for nearly 60 per cent of the wholesale drug market in and around Calcutta.

Traders said a few shops in the two markets have opened.

Aware of the problems in distribution of some essential items, the chief minister said: “Listen, this is a disaster. When there is a disaster, there will be inconvenience. We can’t just be scared of a disaster. We will have to battle it.”

Senior officials of the agricultural marketing department met representatives of hypermarts and assured them that there would be no hindrance in replenishing their stock.

Supply of vegetables and fish improved after the chief minister’s visit to markets across Calcutta on Thursday.