Though most of the offices in the Millennium City are shut with companies preferring work from home for the employees, the businesses, especially shopping malls and restaurants, are looking forward to the resumption of metro service from Monday after around five months.
MGF Metropolitan Mall Association member Aman Bajaj, who also runs a gaming and gadget store, ‘music festival’, said that around 40% footfall in the shopping mall, adjacent to MG Road metro station, comprised Delhiites. So he hoped the business to pick up with the resumption of the metro service.
“It has helped us in terms of business to be close to the metro station. Most of the crowd travelling by metro comprises office-goers and the offices are now shut, but still the opening of the metro will help the business a great deal. The footfall has already gone up significantly since the malls first opened after the lockdown,” said Mr. Bajaj. He added that the opening of metro signalled that the situation was getting back to normal and gave confidence to the people to step out.
With the Haryana government allowing renewal of bar licences from this month, the hospitality industry also hopes to reap the benefits of metro restart, especially the Cyber Hub, which is connected with the Rapid Metro.
Inderjeet Banga, head of National Restaurant Association of India’s Gurugram chapter, said that opening metro would make travelling easy and increase the access. He said it was a “welcome move” and helped create a positive mindset. “When the mindset is positive, consumption patterns will go up,” said Mr. Banga.
It also means a new lease of life for the rickshaw pullers and autorickshaw drivers, who have been struggling to make both ends meet since the lockdown. Many autorickshaw drivers in the city are forced to convert their vehicles into open carts selling vegetables and tea to earn their livelihood.
Three-member team
Though Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) would be responsible for the running of metro trains and ensuring adherence to the Standard Operating Procedures inside its premises, the Gurugram district administration has decided to deploy three-member teams comprising a policeman, a health worker and a municipal official, at each of the five Yellow Line stations in its jurisdiction. A nodal official will be appointed for overall supervision of the situation.
Haryana Auto Chalak Sangathan State president Mahavir Singh said there would be separate auto stands to pick up and drop the passengers.
The 12-km rapid metro network with eleven stations will also be open on Monday, but since it mostly caters to office-goers, the traffic is expected to be less.