Haryana to follow Centre rules, markets can function on all seven days now

GURUGRAM/CHANDIGARH: The Centre’s Unlock 4 guidelines have come as a huge relief for traders in the city, as the state government has now allowed markets and malls to remain open throughout the week.

Last week, the Khattar government had announced that all markets and malls will be shut on weekends. But following protests by traders, the district administration changed the lockdown days to Mondays and Tuesdays. However, on Sunday morning, state home minister Anil Vij tweeted that as per the guidelines from the Union government, markets in non-containment zones will now be open on all days of the week.
“The Union government has categorically barred the states from imposing lockdown of any kind in non-containment zones. Hence, orders related to regulating operations of markets stand withdrawn,” Vij said on Sunday. He, however, made it clear that other restrictions and penalties for violation of social distancing as well as other Covid safety norms will continue in an intensified manner.
Traders have welcomed the move. “It is an extremely positive development as it will help revive businesses,” said Akash Oberoi, president, MGF Metropolitan Mall Association. “It is not just the traders who would be impacted by restrictions on commercial activity, but the economy overall will suffer. The announcement by the government sends a message that life has to go on with the virus,” he added.
Many others who were worried about not being able to make the rent or pay their staff are also breathing a sigh of relief now. “Most of our business happens on weekends. Now we can run our shops on all seven days of the week, which will help in reviving the business,” said Neeraj Yadav, president of Galleria Market Association.
However, restrictions announced under Unlock 4, especially related to educational institutions, shall remain in place, officials said.
Meanwhile, with the Centre allowing resumption of metro services from September 7, the Rapid Metro is also likely to be functional soon. A meeting of all metro representatives in NCR is likely to be held on Monday about the SOPs and preparations required before the services are opened to the public, said an official of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.
However, there is no confirmation on the city bus service running on all the routes yet. While the GMCBL buses are running at full capacity, not all the bus routes have been made functional yet. Also while a few inter-state routes of the Haryana Roadways buses are already running, other routes are also likely to be made functional in the coming weeks as Unlock 4.0 guidelines mention that all inter-state and intra-state travel will be allowed from September 1 without the requirement of a pass.
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