Traders’ plea for relaxation turned down

Surat: A day after the state government extended the partial lockdown till May 18, the Federation of Surat Textile Traders Association (FOSTTA) too declared that all textile markets will remain closed during the period.
The traders’ body, however, met the police commissioner on Wednesday requesting him to allow them to open shops for a few hours to wind up the pending work. The request was turned down by the police commissioner.
“Not all shops would have opened had the permission been granted. Many traders’ goods are stuck and there is a question of its security, so we had made the request,” said Manoj Agarwal, president of FOSTTA.
Incidentally, when the district collector had allowed the Southern Gujarat of Chamber of Commerce and Industry to let shops in textile markets open for four hours on Tuesday, FOSTTA had opposed the move. Later, citing administrative reasons the collector withdrew the permission within a few hours.