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Curfew gone, late-night revellers are back in Ludhiana
A visit to the popular haunts of the city, including Pakhowal road, Malhar road, Sarabha Nagar, BRS Nagar (near Orient cinema), Model town, Dugri and Field Ganj, revealed that most residents are now confident of venturing out in the public as the number of cases have remained well below the 100-mark for the last six days.
With Covid cases on a steady decline and the government lifting the night curfew, late-night revellers in Ludhiana are back and with a vengeance!
A visit to the popular haunts of the city, including Pakhowal road, Malhar road, Sarabha Nagar, BRS Nagar (near Orient cinema), Model town, Dugri and Field Ganj, revealed that most residents are now confident of venturing out in the public as the number of cases have remained well below the 100-mark for the last six days.
The weekends attract the most crowds as residents drive up to popular food joints and enjoy late-night snacks and savour on ice-creams with their friends and family. Booze lovers too are back to merrymaking as long queues are now common outside the liquor vends.
The traders, meanwhile, are heaving a sigh of relief as they are finally raking in profits. Traders in most of the popular spots of the city, including Kipps market in Sarabha Nagar, Model Town market and Dugri market, have suffered massive losses since March 23, when the restrictions were brought in to check the spread of Covid-19.
Gurkaran Tinna, the owner of Waterfront Grills on Pakhowal road, said, “Even after the government allowed us to resume our business, we were not making much profits due to the continuation of night curfew and Sunday lockdown. But now since these restrictions have been removed, our business is picking up pace.”
Harpreet Singh, a resident of Model Town Extension, said, “I am trader. The only time I get to spend with my family is at night. We used to visit different places, including Sarabha Nagar market, Malhar road and other dhabas in night hours to grab a bite. But due to the night curfew, we were not able to move around much. But with the government lifting the restrictions, we are finally able to go out with the kids.”
Mandeep Singh, another resident, said, “We used to play cricket with our friends at night and then visit our favourite eatery on Pakhowal road to gorge on paranthas. But due to the restrictions, our game as well as the late-night visits to the eatery came to a halt. But now we are happy that we are able go out again.”
Sarabha Nagar main market traders’ association chairman Wangjenn Chiu said, “Our market is one of the favourite haunts of the city residents but remained desolate over the last few months. Though the response now is still low as compared to the pre-lockdown period, the numbers are slowing rising and we are looking at it as a positive sign.”
Amarjit Singh, the owner of Green Hotel on Railway Station Road, said, “The lifting of night curfew has brought a major relief to the restaurant and hotel owners as well. It has also brought down the level of fear in the minds of residents. The restaurant business in the city mostly depends on bars and residents visit bars only during night hours. The restaurants have now opened up and the business has also increased to around 65-70 percent.”
Keerat Bajaj, a wine contractor, said that there is some relief for his sector too as liquor sales had gone down drastically due to the night restrictions.
A WORD OF CAUTION
Though the number of new infections is coming down and fatality rate is also down, youngsters roaming around the city without masks have become a cause of concern for the district health authorities. As the threat of a second wave looms large, Ludhiana deputy commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma said there should be no room for complacency. “While it is a huge respite that cases are on a decline, residents should not be careless,” he said.
