E-Paper
Huge sigh of relief as Pune traders welcome easing of curbs
PUNE The sustained pressure and civil disobedience by traders last week has forced the state government to ease some of the curbs in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad
PUNE The sustained pressure and civil disobedience by traders last week has forced the state government to ease some of the curbs in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. The traders, hoteliers and mall owners welcomed the decision, promising to follow Covid- appropriate behaviour.
The Federation of Trade Association of Pune (FTAP) president, Fatechand Ranka said, “We welcome this decision of the state government and at the same time promise to ensure utmost precautions after the relaxations come into force. The decision brings justice to lakhs of people such has traders and shop owners, along with their staff, who are dependent on businesses. Once we get the official order from the civic body we will be sending instructions to all our members to follow Covid rules strictly. Also, vaccination of workers and staff is going on and will try to speed it up.”
In major relief to traders, shop, mall owners and hoteliers in the city, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, after Sunday’s weekly review meeting, announced several relaxations in Pune district. All shops are now allowed to remain open till 8 pm for six days a week, while malls are allowed to be open on the condition that they will ensure only those customers and staff who are vaccinated fully are allowed in. The restaurant timing have also been extended upto 10 pm.
While allowing shop owners to operate on weekends, the administration has asked them to follow their previous weekly days of closure. This means areas like Laxmi road and Tulsibaug will remain closed every Monday.
The announcement of relaxations came with a warning from Pawar. The deputy chief minister warned that the relaxations would be withdrawn if the positivity rate exceeds 7%.
“While offering the relief, I have to underline repeatedly here that the moment Pune’s positivity rate goes beyond 7%, these relaxations will be immediately be rolled back,” said Ajit Pawar during a press conference in Pune on Sunday.
Pune city’s positivity rate for the current week ending Saturday stands at 3.3%, while for Pimpri-Chinchwad, it is 3.5% and for rural parts of Pune district, it is 5.5%.
Tulshibaug Market Traders Association president Nitin Pandit said, “We are happy with the decision though it came late. This will now bring the disturbed lifeline of traders on track. It will take time, but we are hopeful to get business. Ahead is the festival season when a rush is there, so we will ensure maximum safety precautions, social distancing and complete vaccination of all our Tulshibaug traders and their workers.”
Malls are also been allowed to open from Monday, with some conditions such as allowing only fully vaccinated customers and testing of staff every fortnight.
Surjit Singh Rajpurohit, committee member of the Shopping Centres Association Of India (SCAI) and COO, Amanora Mall, said, “We really welcome the decision taken by the state government and we are looking forward to restarting after a long. The Covid protocols given for the malls will be followed strictly.”
Ganesh Shetty, president, Pune Restaurants and Hoteliers Association (PRAHA) said, “For more than a month we were meeting several top leaders right from the state chief minister, deputy chief minister, and Pune district collector to demand for and extension of timings. As our Covid cases have drastically gone down, there should be relaxation given and it has finally happened. State government officials told us to get both doses of the vaccines given to our staff, but it is not possible as there is gap between two doses. Whereas 90 per cent of staff has taken the first dose, we strictly follow all the SOPs given by the state government.”
