Cops to help streamline opening of shops

Nagpur: City police top brass, following a brainstorming session on Monday, decided to now hold a tripartite meeting involving the senior inspectors, NMC’s nodal officers or assistant municipal commissioners in every zone and local merchants’ associations for implementing model of alternate day opening for non-essential shops from June 5.
NMC’s order of allowing non-essential shops to open on alternate days on the basis of their facing direction seemed to have created speculation among the traders and citizens about how it will be implemented. The order is part of the state’s ‘Mission Begin Again’ kick-starting the Unlock 1.0 from later this week.
City police chief BK Upadhyay, who did not want to comment on the merit of the alternate-day order, said the implementation would be done only after meeting the local traders’ association. The modalities would be devised by the special branch DCP Shweta Khedkar, also the nodal officer for the city police’s corona control room, in coming days.
In the past, NMC and police department had difference of approach in the lockdown implementations leading to some controversies. Police were blamed for being lackadaisical. State home minister Anil Deshmukh had to intervene to convince the agencies to work with more coordination and cohesively.
Khedkar said she would soon issue orders for respective police stations to summon a meeting of the local traders and NMC officials. “Police department would seek advice of the traders, their representative bodies and NMC officials to decide which shops would remain open on what dates,” she said.
Khedkar said no confusion would be allowed in the process and hence traders are being engaged too. “Police and NMC would jointly explain the arrangement of opening on alternate days to them. Their issues too would be heard and decided on amicably,” she said.
Khedkar also warned of action in case any trader flouted the norms even after these discussions. “We would try to go as meticulously as possible so there are no issues but there would be action if someone is found violating order after that,” she said.