Markets in sealed Vaishali and Khoda localities allowed to open

Traders of Vaishali and Khoda finally heaved a sigh of relief on Thursday after district officials announced relaxations and allowed markets to open up in the twin

Traders of Vaishali and Khoda finally heaved a sigh of relief on Thursday after district officials announced relaxations and allowed markets to open up in the twin localities. The Khoda and Vaishali localities had been placed under sealing on May 10 and June 1, respectively, to check the rising number of Covid-19 cases.

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Ever since the localities were placed under the ‘sector scheme’ as part of the sealing activity, the traders had been demanding that markets should open up. The district officials finally relented on Thursday and announced relaxations for the markets to open up in Vaishali and Khoda.

“SOme restrictions have been eased in Vaishali and traders can open their shops on alternate days between 9am and 9pm as directed in the earlier orders. Strict social distancing norms will need to be observed. If they follow all rules, then relaxations will continue.However, the markets under containment zones will remain shut,” said Aditya Prajapati, sub-divisional magistrate.

The traders’ association expressed happiness and requested all shopkeepers to shut by 8pm.

“We have asked our members to shut shop by 8pm so that there is no violation of the 9pm to 9am curfew which is directed by the authorities. We have also asked them to take precautions and follow protocols as mandated. Our markets opened up for a couple of days earlier in May, but soon after Vaishali was placed under sealing. So our employees again suffered and all the stocks that we had purchased was going to waste,” said Anirudh Vashishtha, general secretary of Vaishali Udyog Vyapar Mandal.

The residents of Vaishali said that opening of markets was a welcome sign and more relaxations should be provided later.

“The markets have opened up and some barricades have been removed from internal roads as well. However, residents face restrictions in terms of moving in and out of Vaishali. Administration should consider this as we and restrict the sealing to containment zones only,” said Mohit Sharma, resident of sector-1.

The district magistrate on May 22 had issued directions for opening of 34 markets across Ghaziabad city on alternate days.

The major markets located in Indirapuram, Vaishali, Sahibabad, Bajaria, Gandhi Nagar, Nehru Nagar, Mohan Nagar, Shastri Nagar and Turab Nagar, among others, were directed to stay open on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

The market which were to open Monday, Wednesday and Friday were the ones located in Vasundhara, Kaushambi, Raj Nagar District Centre, Kavi Nagar, Rajendra Nagar, Shyam Park, Raj Nagar Extension, Navyug Market, Ambedkar Road and those in Delta Colonies of Ramprastha, Brij Vihar, Surya Nagar and Chander Nagar.

the administration on Thursday, allowed some lockdown restrictions relief to 15 different markets in Khoda, that were allowed to open.

“We have allowed opening of 15 different markets in Khoda. They will be open from 9am to 9pm on alternate days. Opening markets has been a demand from local traders since the lockdown began and thereafter since Khoda was placed under sealing. Each market has been given two days to open on alternate days on an experimental basis,” said KK Bhadana, executive officer of Khoda Nagar Palika.

“During these four days, we will observe how traders and residents follow social distancing and safety protocols. If the response is favourable, the district magistrate will allow the relaxations to continue,” he added.

According to officials, there are estimated 2,500-3,000 shops in Khoda.