Confusion after cops force closure of Broadway shops

KOCHI:  Confusion prevailed at Broadway here on Monday when police officials directed shop owners at the market to down shutters. The police action came amid the gradual implementation of the relaxations in lockdown norms after Ernakulam received the green zone tag as no fresh case of Covid-19 was reported in the district in the past weeks.

“There is lack of clarification as to which shops can open and where. The police officers said only standalone shops and that too those located in rural areas can be opened. They said shops in market area are not standalone shops,” said Shameer, a wholesale shop owner at the nearby Press Club Road.
Shameer said when the officers came to close the shops at Broadway in the morning, some people said that they were here as some traders from Kozhikode had reached the market. “But it was just a rumour,” he said.

Central police station SHO S Vijayasankar also rubbished the rumour and said they took the action on the DCP’s directive. “The DCP directed us to close the shops in the market as no circular has been issued that establishments in such areas are to be opened,” he said. “Shops at Broadway cannot be considered standalone establishments. They function like complexes which would make crowd control impossible,” Vijayasankar said.

Can’t open shops as it’s like a complex, says collector
In a meeting called to discuss the reopening of the shops in Broadway market, District Collector S Suhas said that since the shops in the market were not independent, they could be considered as a complex. “There has been no instruction from the state government concerning the opening of such places. Hence, shops in Broadway market are to remain closed until further notice,” Suhas said.