NEW DELHI: On day one of the weekend curfew on January 8, the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) sealed a factory in Mongolpuri industrial area after it was found violating guidelines. The shop was a non-essential product factory running with over 60 labourers and without an e-pact. The owner was directed to appear before the SDM Rohini on January 11.
The industry owners in the city criticised the government for not making guidelines clear in terms of industries during the lockdown. Navdeep Malhotra, vice-president of the Chamber of Trade & Industry (CTI), said, "If the lockdown is in one place, then many customers are affected. The continuity of business is hampered and the payment cycle disturbed. There are urgent orders which are delayed due to these curbs by the government."
He added, "The government must specify what is required for the industries to follow during the night curfews and weekend curfews, otherwise it becomes an easy tour for police to fleece money from the industries. It should understand that the transmission of COVID can be more in metros and buses than in industries. It should provide us with rapid testing kits where we can test our employees and labourers. During such restrictions, we lose around Rs 1,000 crore per day."
Narela Industrial Complex Welfare Association member Ashish Garg said, "We don't want to return to last year’s situation when most of our labourers returned to their native places to find some other work. The government should allow the industries to operate amid the curfews because many people lose jobs."
The Delhi Gym Association also raised the issue of a complete shutdown of gyms in the city again on Sunday. It wrote to the DDMA requesting for a full waiver of rentals, electricity and water charges for the next six months, and financial help for the staff of gyms.
Delhi Gym Association Vice-President Chirag Sethi said, "The business that builds immunity is asked to close, but bars and pubs are allowed to run in Delhi. The government should give us the permit to sell liquor from our gyms as that's the only profession where corona has no impact and no restrictions are placed on this. This lockdown, we want a financial package for the gym owners who are on the verge of losing every thing and go bankrupt."