Pune: Confusion over P1/P2 norm puzzles traders

PUNE: The confusion over reopening shops following the P1/P2 system puzzled several traders on Wednesday, a day after most of the wholesale markets in Peth areas were granted permission to resume business.
Shops on the either side of bylanes of Laxmi Road and other important streets opened in the morning, prompting action by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and police officers. After deliberations, a formula was drawn about shops remaining open on the northern and southern sides of roads alternatively.
Pankaj Oswal, a utensils trader from Raviwar Peth, said, “There was lack of clarity about P1/P2. Shops were open on both sides of roads in areas like Bohri Ali, Raviwar Peth, Guruwar Peth and others. We unanimously decided to keep shutters half-open of shops on one side of the road. I believe that trade associations in most areas are yet to decide on shops on which side of roads will remain open on which days. It must be decided mutually by shopkeepers.”
The P1/P2 system for shops’ operations would be same as the parking norms followed in the city. Shops on one side of the road would be under the P1 category and remain open on odd dates. Likewise, shops on the other side of the road would be under the P2 category and operate on even dates. On FC Road, shops on the right side (Vaishali side) remain open these days on even dates, while those on the left side (Fergusson College side) remain open on odd dates.
Some traders claimed that shopkeepers across the previously sealed areas, including Sonya Maruti Chowk, Vijay Maruti Chowk, Moti Chowk and Bohri Ali, opened establishments around 9.30am on Wednesday. “The police had to intervene and inform traders that it was an odd date, and only P1 shops could remain open. Later, the police allowed shops on the P2 side to pull shutters half-down and clean them,” said Akshay Patil, a customer.
Footwear dealer Murtuza Poonawalla, whose shop is close to Pasodya Vithoba Mandir, said, “I am glad that traders are following the P1/P2 norm and other guidelines, and hope that markets will not be closed again.”
Sumit Shah, a visitor to Peth areas, said, “At Laxmi Road, shops on only one of its sides were open. But shops on both sides of roads were open in most of the bylanes around it and some adjoining areas.”
The secretary of Federation of Trade Associations of Pune, Mahendra Pitaliya, said, “When the shops initially started practising P1/P2, there was some confusion. Things will streamline in a day or two.”
Pitaliya said the FTAP expressed its displeasure to the PMC over the spare parts market in Nana Peth, and the iron and steel market not being permitted to reopen on Wednesday. “The plans were changed at the last moment,” he said.