HYDERABAD: As the number of Covid-19 cases continue to spike in Hyderabad, the Hyderabad Kirana Merchants Association (HKMA) which has around 300-400 wholesale and retail shop owners from Begum Bazar as its members, decided to function only from 9 am to 3 pm everyday starting from Thursday. The decision to function only for six hours and shut the shops early is not surprising as around 1,250 Covid-19 cases have been recorded from the Greater Hyderabad limits in the past one week.
HKMA general secretary Mahesh Kumar Gupta said, “The government is doing whatever possible to control the spread of the disease but the public also has responsibility of behaving so. In the market, we do our best for ensuring that proper distancing is maintained, we sanitise hands of our customers and even provide masks.” He added, “However, not everyone listen to us and some violate norms. So we decided to cut down our working hours.”