NEW DELHI: Noting a downward trend in Covid cases, the New Delhi Traders’ Association (NDTA) on Tuesday wrote to the L-G and the Chief Minister, calling for the withdrawal of the weekend curfew and odd-even system of shops opening.
In his letter, NDTA president Atul Bhargava said the traders have been suffering due to the restrictions and are forced to work only eight to 10 days a month. “The Covid figures are evidently dwindling and the authorities should take a decision to open the markets regularly so that we can survive. We have been continuously incurring heavy losses without any support from the state or the central government,” he said.
He added, “We believe that the public awareness and crowd management should be the solution and not the closure of trade. The political rallies are going on in full swing. When the shops in adjoining states of Haryana and Punjab are allowed to remain open on all days between 10 am and 8 pm, then why the restrictions are being enforced only on Delhi markets?”
Bhargava said that by adopting an odd-even protocol, the crowd increases in front of the shops and that it can be reduced when all shops are allowed to open regularly till 8 pm. “Needless to say that the shopkeepers have been incurring huge losses for the last two years and demand that the shops be opened daily, otherwise it will be difficult for the survival of the shopkeepers. We have been following the District Disaster Management Authority’s orders as well, and we will continue to do so, but the shops should be opened and these curfew and restrictions on the markets should be withdrawn,” Bhargava added.