VIJAYAWADA: A day after shops in non-containment clusters resumed functioning, shopkeepers seem confused whether to open or close their outlets as the VMC and police came up with quite opposite norms on enforcement of lockdown 4.0.
While the VMC informed that shops in non-containment clusters can be operated from 7 am to 7 pm, police on Friday ‘forced’ the shopkeepers to close their shops after 9 am stating that they were permitted to run business from 6 to 9 am only.
“VMC chief V Prasanna Venkatesh came yesterday and told us that shops in our area could be operated till 7 pm. But today some policemen came around 9:30 am and forced us to shut the shops. We have to pay rent and power bill. I got power bill for the past two months even though the shop was closed. How long do they want us to sit at home?” questioned Nani, who runs a mobile shop.
When contacted, the VMC chief said, “All the departments have the guidelines issued by the government. There is no chance of confusion in this regard.”
Police Commissioner Ch Dwaraka Tirumala Rao said, “I circulated the list of containment and non-containment zones to all the DCPs and ACPs and they are implementing the guidelines in their respective jurisdictions accordingly.”