BHOPAL: Business establishments are still closed in most of the areas on the second day even after the curfew was lifted from three police station limits in Old Bhopal on Monday. However, the situation is partly normal in these areas. The curfew was imposed on Sunday over the possession of a piece of land by the RSS-affiliated Keshav Nidam Trust after a high court decision.
Business establishments are still closed at Hamidia Road and Sindhi Market, while the situation is normal in the categorized market (kabadkhana) after the curfew was lifted from three police station limits on Monday morning. However, when the traders prepared to open the shops, the police deployed at the disputed site told the traders to refrain from doing so from a safety point of view as prohibitory orders are still effective in the area.
The business establishments gradually opened around noon in some parts of the curfew-bound areas. The district administration, late on Sunday night, lifted the curfew, while continuing with the prohibitory orders in the three police station areas — Gautam Nagar, Hanumanganj and Tilajamalpura — as a precautionary measure.
‘Situation is normal’
"The situation is normal here after the curfew was lifted in the categorized market (kabadkhana), Sindhi Market and the surrounding areas. The shops were opened after noon. However, prohibitory orders are still in force in these areas and policemen are keeping a close watch on the disputed site. On the other hand, business activities have picked up as normal," said Qmar Khan of Meer Traders, new categorized market.
‘Trade must go on’
"Business establishments are still closed at Hamidia Road. It’ll take some time to bring back normality in the areas as the administration had taken the decision of imposing a curfew in the three police station limits all of sudden. It was the administration’s decision, but business and trade should go on. Realizing the gravity of the situation, we didn’t open our shops on Monday. Sunday’s our day off, but Monday’s a full working day. Still, we preferred to keep our shops closed from a safety point of view," remarked Sushil Gambhir, BK Engineering, Hamidia Road.
‘Followed cops’ advice’
"We were preparing to open our shops, but the police told us it would be better to keep them closed as prohibitory orders were still in force. So, paying heed to the cops’ advice and keeping our safety in mind, we didn’t open our shops. Our shop is in the categorized market. Realizing the gravity of the situation, we didn’t risk opening our shops," Vivek Agrawal, Agrawal Traders (Topaz Products Pvt. Ltd), said.
'Normal by Tuesday'
"Curfew was lifted on Monday, but, hopefully, the situation will be normal by Tuesday and business establishments will also be opened on Tuesday. As such, there’s no problem there," Mukesh Shrivastava, superintendent of police (North), remarked.
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