Photos: Malls reopen in Gurugram after three months, await shoppers

On July1, malls in Gurugram came back to life after a three month pause owing to the raging Covid-19 pandemic, which has so far infected 5,463 people in Gurugram and killed 92. Safety remained the first priority for all city malls, with visitors being made to follow norms of social distancing, wearing masks, thermal scanning and sanitizing of hands outside every store. However, on day one of their reopening, most malls experienced little footfall. ...read more

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Updated on Jul 02, 2020 06:27 PM IST

A woman is thermal screened at the entrance of Ambience Mall as it reopens after lockdown, in DLF Phase-3 on July 1. Malls in Gurugram sputtered back to life on July 1, after a three month pause owing to the raging Covid-19 pandemic, which has so far infected 5463 people in Gurugram and killed 92. On Day One of their reopening, however, most malls experienced thin footfall. (Rahul Grover / HT Photo)

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A worker sanitizes an area inside Sahara Mall as it reopens three months after closing due to the lockdown against the coronavirus, at MG road near Sikandarpur metro station, in Gurugram on July 1. (Rahul Grover / HT Photo)

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“We weren’t expecting any footfall at all in the first few weeks as we got no time to advertise and inform residents that the malls had reopened. It will take some time for us to regain the trust of visitors and for them also to get accustomed to the habit of venturing outdoors once again,” Aman Bajaj, a member of MGF Metropolitan Mall Association, told HT. (Parveen Kumar / HT Photo)

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According to a report by HT, malls located on Golf Course Road, MG Road and Sohna Road reported around 20% of their usual footfall on July 1, with a significant number of shops opting to wait and watch for now and voluntarily remaining shut. (Parveen Kumar / HT Photo)

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An empty store in Ambience Mall on July 1. At South Point Mall on Golf Course Road, barring two supermarkets which had remained open throughout the lockdown, the building appeared to be deserted. Association members said that though around 100 out of the 180 stores opened on July 1, footfall was less than 15% of what it used to be before the lockdown. (Parveen Kumar / HT Photo)

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Cinema halls and play areas for children inside the malls continue to remain shut. Rakesh Kapoor, a resident of DLF 5, who was among the few who visited the mall on July 1 said the visible precautions taken at the establishment served as a reassurance for him. (Parveen Kumar / HT Photo)

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A closed shop seen inside Ambience Mall where mall officials said that around 5,000-7,000 people visited on July 1, which is around 20-25% of the footfall they would have received on a normal day before the Covid-19 pandemic. (Parveen Kumar / HT Photo)

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Shoppers at a mall on MG Road in Gurugram on July 1. Hariom Attri, joint commissioner, Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) said that despite surprise visits to all malls, not a single challan was issued on the first day. “The footfall across all malls in the city was extremely low. Hence, there was little to no scope for people to flout norms. Even I visited some malls at random and found everything to be in order,” Attri told HT. (PTI)