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Curbs eased in Mohali, but residents remain indoors
Police close down shops in Dera Bassi, complain traders; Kharar shops divided in two groups, to open on alternate days as per trade
Day 1 of curfew relaxation between 7 am and 11am on Friday saw Mohali residents preferring to continue to remain indoors amid the continuing threat of the coronavirus pandemic.
The district administration has allowed all shops to remain open during the four hours in the urban areas, following which shops offering essential supplies, such as groceries, vegetables, milk, meat and medicines, can continue to deliver orders at home, only with requisite permissions.
Further, shops will operate on rotational basis - those with even SCO/SCF/booth numbers will be open on even dates and those with odd numbers on odd dates.
In rural areas, all shops, irrespective of shop number, can remain between 7am and 11am.
A visit to Phases 3B2, 5, 7, 10 and 11 revealed only a few grocery, chemist and hardware shops open. In some places, shops selling non-essential products, like garments and cycles, were also open.
Some shopkeepers claimed they were not sure whether or not to open their shops.
“The idea is to give some respite to the public and shopkeepers after the curfew of five weeks. We had been getting requests to allow shops to reopen, so the relaxation was allowed. It was the first day today, more residents may reach out to shops in the coming days,” said deputy commissioner Girish Dayalan.
All markets will remain completely closed on Sundays, he said, but, e-commerce orders and phone orders through local stores can be delivered.
Shopkeepers in both rural and urban areas will have to ensure social distancing and all workers must wear masks and use hand sanitisers.Shops are not allowed to open in Jawaharpur village in Dera Bassi and Nayagaon, which have been declared hotspots.
Any violation will invite criminal proceedings under the relevant provisions of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, and the Indian Penal Code.
TRADERS SEEK CHANGE IN RELAXATION HOURS
Stating that 7am was too early for residents to step out, shopkeepers have sought the relaxation hours be changed to 9am to 1pm.
Phase 3B2 Market Welfare Association president Jatinder Pal Singh said they had requested the authorities to change the timings, as no one will come to the markets at 7am. He said most shopkeepers were not aware of the relaxation notification, so it will take some days for their operations to streamline.
MOHALI OUT OF RED ZONE NOW
Assigned the red zone tag after sudden spurt in cases in April, Mohali has been moved to the orange zone in Centre’s revised list.
While red zones comprise cities with major outbreaks, orange zones include places showing a decline in number of new cases. At present, Mohali has 92 patients of Covid-19, of which 30 have recovered and two have died.
The district has two hotspots - Jawaharpur village in Dera Bassi and Nayagaon, with 46 and nine cases, respectively. Nayagaon has reported one Covid-19 death.
POLICE DOWN SHUTTERS IN DERA BASSI
In Dera Bassi, shopkeepers complained that police did not allow them to open their shops, leading to confusion.
Complaints poured in from shops on Lohgarh Road and in Shiva Enclave. The furniture market in Zirakpur also remained closed.
Sunil Kumar Sethi, who runs a shop on Lohgarh Road, said when he had just opened the shop at 7am, police arrived and asked him to pull down the shutters.
“The shops are allowed to open on odd-even basis. The market association have been asked to chalk out the plan,” said Kuldeep Bawa, SDM, Dera Bassi.
KHARAR SHOPS TO OPEN TRADE WISE
In Kharar, shops have been divided on the basis of trade and allocated days to open up to avoid rush.
Shops in Group A are hardware, sanitary fittings, cement, building material, furniture, fabrication, automobiles, cars, accessories, optical shops, spare parts and mechanical shops, medical labs, repair workshops, ayurvedic shops, scrap and junk dealers.
Group B includes shops sellings electronic appliances, CD, DVD repair, apparels and tailoring, jewellery, toiletries, cosmetics, footwear, sports, sportswear, books, stationery, toys, mobile phones, utensils, money transfer, confectionery, sweet shops and departmental stores.
“Shops under Group A will open on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and those under Group B on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday,” Himanshu Jain, SDM, Kharar said, adding that shop owners will paint their shops depicting Group A or B by May 3.
