Jamshedpur: Several trade bodies in East Singhbhum have demanded the state government to declare a lockdown for a short period of time to break the transmission chain.
Bharat Vasani, who is the vice-president of Singhbhum Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said, “The second wave of the pandemic is spreading like wildfire and it is lethal. The government should take effective measures to contain the virus spread and traders will back the authorities if they decide to go for a week-long lockdown.”
Vasani appealed to the traders and businessmen here to keep their establishments shut on Tuesday as a symbolic gesture. “I would request the traders to voluntarily shut their shops for a day to press the government to declare a lockdown,” he said.
The national secretary of Confederation of All India Traders, Suresh Sonthalia, said, “Although any trader would oppose the idea of a shutdown under normal circumstances, the current situation is alarming as Covid-19 cases are rising exponentially and the shopkeepers believe that only a lockdown can help flatten the Covid curve.” He cited the examples of states like Maharashtra and others that have declared a partial lockdown and urged the government to take a decision in this regard as soon as possible.
Taking a cue from Vasani, the president of Jamshedpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mohanlal Agarwal, asked the traders to voluntarily shut their shops for around 10 days, instead of just 24 hours, if the government doesn’t declare a lockdown. “Shutting down for just a day is not enough. A week-long closure is required at least – like the traders in Ranchi have done - to break the transmission chain,” Agarwal said.
On Sunday, traders in Ranchi’s Shastri Market announced to go for a week-long lockdown to protect themselves, their family members and their staff from getting infected. “Traders in Jamshedpur should follow suit and not wait for the government’s approval,” Agarwal said.
Sakchi Merchants’ Association’s president Anil Chaudhary said the deadly second wave of coronavirus needs to be contained at every cost and they will stand by the government if it decides to go for economic and other types of restrictions to bring down the caseload.
All the trade bodies’ representatives, however, said that essential services should be not under any restrictions.
Traders, on the other hand, are in a sort of a Catch-22 situation. On one hand, they are reluctant to go for a lockdown because of the resultant loss of revenue but on the other, they know that the current Covid situation necessitates some sort of restrictions, without which they stand the chance of getting infected.
A 36-year-old confectionery store owner in Kadma market said, “Whether we go for a voluntary lockdown or the state declares it, it means a loss of revenue. But if we keep our shops open, it poses a risk to our lives.”
In the past week, East Singhbhum reported 3,570 cases and 57 deaths. As of Monday morning, the district recorded 24,399 infections, 20,097 recoveries, 447 deaths and 3,855 active cases.