Thane: Police enforces lockdown, shuts shops after 11am

Police officers from each police station closed the shops in their jurisdiction after 11am. Action was taken in popular markets of Jambli Naka, Naupada and Ghodbunder along with those in Kalyan and Dombivli.

With curbs on timings for shops selling essential goods, the Thane Police forcefully closed shops in Thane markets on Wednesday afternoon. Markets across the city wore a deserted look since afternoon as all shops remained closed.

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Police officers from each police station closed the shops in their jurisdiction after 11am. Action was taken in popular markets of Jambli Naka, Naupada and Ghodbunder along with those in Kalyan and Dombivli. As per state guidelines, grocery shops, dairy shops, fruits and vegetable shops and vendors, meat shops, bakery shops and all other essential shops can function only between 7am and 11am every day.

A senior police officer from Thane said, “We will ensure that these curbs are strictly followed. Our teams will be patrolling through the day to take action against shops found flouting these directives.”

A grocery shop owner from Jambli Naka, Jitesh Gala, said, “We used to start our shop around 9am. But as per new rules, we have to start it at 7am and close at 11am. During this time, very few people shop for groceries. Most of them come to shop around 10am. The situation was same today, but we asked them to form a line. The timing is too short and not suitable for business.”

Jagannath Gupta, a dairy shop owner from Naupada, said, “Our milk business is not affected, but the business of milk products such as cheese and paneer is hit as we cannot produce it in large quantities like earlier. It will not be sold in the four hours allotted to us.”