BHUBANESWAR: Despite the ongoing lockdown and weekend shutdown, sale of garments for Sabitri Brata and Raja is going on unabated in the city.
Taking advantage of lax enforcement of restrictions, the garment traders of Old Town, Nayapalli and other areas of the city are doing brisk business during relaxation hours from 7 am to 11 am.
While traders in these areas are openly violating the norms, the ones at Unit-1, Unit-2 and others are selling garments like sarees clandestinely from their shops. What’s worse is that mandatory safety measures like use of mask and social distancing are violated with impunity at such outlets.
The modus operandi of the traders at Market Building, one of the biggest textile markets of the city, highlights the laxity of authorities in enforcing the norms.
In a bid to play it safe, the traders send their salesmen to the customers and receive orders from a distance. Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials said they have received some complaints about businesses being conducted during the lockdown in violation of government guidelines. Still enforcement is yet to be intensified to check the practice.
Even as BMC has three enforcement and one central squad each comprising around seven members, the manpower is proving inadequate in enforcing the norms at over 50,000 shops including garment outlets in the city.
BMC additional commissioner Laxmikanta Sethi said enforcement will be intensified and penal action will be initiated against those violating the guidelines.
Traders, meanwhile, said the government should consider their demand to ease lockdown restrictions ahead of the two important festivals, which otherwise may only encourage backdoor sale of products.
“We were already running out of our savings after last year’s lockdown. Now, the second wave has added to our woes. How will we make our ends meet if we keep our shutters down for months. We have to pay rent for our commercial space,” said Prasant Kumar, a cloth store owner. While Sabitri Brata will be observed on June 10, the festival of Raja will start from June 14.