Thursday, 22 April 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
Following the State government orders, all the shops providing non-essential services were shut down in Dehradun on Wednesday. Due to this, many shops even experienced a surge in the number of customers. While many shopkeepers stated that closing shops at 2 PM would increase the crowd in the marketplaces in the morning due to the limited time, many opined that it is the right step by the government to check the Covid-19 contagion rather than closing down the shops completely for days. According to Harish Gusain, manager of a clothing store in Paltan Bazaar, most of the stores open after 11 AM in the city and it would cause a great loss to open a store only for three hours. The government should at least extend the timing to 4 PM so that the businessmen can earn enough to pay their employees. Jasmeet Bhatia who runs a shoe store near Tehsil Chowk stated that if such restriction can help to prevent the spread of Covid-19 then closing the shops for a few days is fine as health is most important in current times. Talking about closing shops at 2 PM, the president of Doon Valley Mahanagar Udyog Vyapar Mandal (DVMUVM), Pankaj Masson said that such partial lockdown would not help in curbing the Covid-19 contagion. “There was a huge rush in the shops of Hanuman Chowk on Wednesday after the people got to know that stores would be closing down after 2 PM. Limiting the time of shops would only shift the evening rush of customers to the morning which would cause even more crowd in the marketplace,” said Masson.
According to him, if the government considers the current situation to be quite critical then it should impose a complete lockdown for a few days in order to restrict the contagion. He also asserted that since such restrictions affect the daily earnings of several small shopkeepers, the government should also consider reimbursing them in difficult times.
However, Sunil Masson from Doon Udyog Vyapar Mandal said that if the shopkeepers have an issue with the time limit, they should open their shops earlier than the usual timings so that customers can approach them early. He said that the State government should have imposed such restrictions at least a week ago considering the surge in the covid cases, adding that it is appreciable that the shops are not being shut down completely. Meanwhile, the business associations also stated that the carelessness of people is one of the major causes of the spread of Covid-19 disease in the city. According to them, if a shopkeeper asks a customer to use a mask or sanitiser, they just walk out and approach some other shops. Since the shopkeepers fear losing their customers, they hesitate to insist further. “If the people continue to ignore basic guidelines, the situation might get worse in the coming weeks. The shopkeepers cannot be blamed entirely for the ignorance of the people arriving in the marketplaces. The authorities should be strict and ensure people follow Covid guidelines in public places,” said Sunil Masson.
