Over 150 guest houses closed in GB Nagar during lockdown

Over 150 paying guest(PG) houses in Gautam Budh Nagar have been forced to pull down their shutters amid the ongoing nationwide lockdown announced on March 24 to

Over 150 paying guest(PG) houses in Gautam Budh Nagar have been forced to pull down their shutters amid the ongoing nationwide lockdown announced on March 24 to halt the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

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According to an estimate by owners of PG accommodations, closure of these guest houses has led to a loss of ₹100 crore during the period of the lockdown—which has now been extended till May 31.

Vishesh Tyagi, president of Noida paying guest houses’ association said that over two lakh people living in these accommodations have left them. “Most of the PG houses don’t have any occupants now. Our problems started right before the Holi vacations started. Students of different colleges and employees working in different companies in the district, who had gone to their home towns didn’t come back again. The remaining lot started packing their bags after the Janta curfew on March 22. Most of them didn’t inform the guest house owners and left their respective abodes quite discreetly,” he said.

Tyagi further said most of the paying guest houses are running from rented private buildings. “We are at the receiving end from both sides. The government has issued the orders for not charging rent for the lockdown period, but our landowners have been continuously pressurising us to pay the rents of their buildings even when we are not generating any income right now. This has forced almost 90% of the owners have handed over the paying guest houses to the landlords,” he said.

Echoing similar views, Rajeev Kumar, who runs a PG in Sector 62, said most of the students, who accounted for most of the occupants at these accommodations, are not accepting calls anymore. “We are still in dark about whether these students will return or not. And even if they return, how can we force them to live in our guest houses again? We are still paying the electricity bills, internet charges, and salaries of the security personnel. According to an assessment by some of the owners, big and small PGs in Gautam Budh Nagar have suffered a loss of over ₹100 crore during the lockdown period,” he added.

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