Shops closing early: Not curbs, it’s lack of biz

Noida: The Noida administration may have allowed shops dealing in essential goods to stay open till 7pm. But most traders in the city aren’t excited about the relaxation and prefer to down the shutters by early evening or even noon.
The shop owners TOI spoke to cited lack of buyers and a generally muted shopping sentiment in the lockdown for not keeping their outlets open till 7pm. Since most traders have let go of their staff because of lack of business, there is also a shortage of workers to keep a shop running till late evening. Lack of transport is also an issue. Most workers in shops prefer to return home early in the absence of enough public transport.
“I open my shop between 7am and 11am only. Residents of nearby localities are aware about my timings and come to pick up their essentials in that period. There’s not enough business to keep the shop open till late evening,” said Mahesh Rawat, who runs a retail store of fruits and vegetables in Sector 49. Rawat would revive the home delivery system once all the shops are open and the movement of people is eased.
Pankaj Gupta, who operates a general store in Sector 53, said, “We would shut our shop early. Not many customers had been coming and there was no point in keeping the store open for long.”
The UP government has lifted the lockdown in many districts that have less than 600 active Covid cases. Both Noida and Ghaziabad did not fall under this category when the decision was taken, but are slowly inching towards fulfilling the criterion. The next decision would be taken by June 7.
By Wednesday, Noida had 730 active cases and Ghaziabad 983.
In some respite to business, the Noida administration has decided that all optical stores will be allowed to remain open as they, too, came under the category of essential services.
Both traders and residents have of late been demanding that the lockdown be lifted in Noida and Ghaziabad. Told about the demands, Noida district magistrate Suhas LY said, “We are still discussing how we can start the Unlock process. The details are being worked out. However, it will be done in a phased manner and with strict implementation of social distancing.”
The lifting of the lockdown would be gradual. It is expected that salons, spas, gyms and public swimming pools would not be allowed to open as of now. Restrictions on common areas within housing societies may also continue.
Meanwhile, traders, who had been demanding that more such shops and services be allowed to open so that business picks up pace, said they were expecting the lockdown to be lifted by June 7.
“Active cases have been reducing for some time now. We hope the administration allows all shops to resume business. Traders have faced mounting losses over the past few months. We have been demanding that business be given the required boost,” said SK Jain, president of the Sector 18 market traders’ welfare association.