Nagpur Municipal Corporation fails to keep non-essential shops closed on weekends

NAGPUR: Even as only essential shops and services are allowed to operate on weekends, majority of the non-essential shops too remained open on Saturday.
TOI visited various markets across the city on Saturday and found that neither the city police nor the nuisance detection squad (NDS) of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) were ensuring all non-essential shops remain closed on weekends.
Many non-essential shops in commercial areas like Jaripatka, Itwari, Mahal, Gandhibagh, Sadar and Dharampeth were either fully opened or the shutter was half open. At some places, TOI found that shopkeepers were standing outside and entertaining customers.
Additional municipal commissioner Ram Joshi too said on Saturday he has received many complaints of shops functioning in Sadar, Itwari and Sitabuldi. He claimed the NMC’s civic cops are taking action against shopkeepers as and when violations of Covid-19 guidelines are spotted.
As per the Epidemic Diseases Act, the NMC has powers to penalize those not following Covid-19 norms. “We will take stricter action if people are found flouting norms more often,” said the additional commissioner.
According to NDS commandant Virsen Tambe, the squad has sealed 50 shops within city limits over the last five months for violating safety guidelines laid down to prevent the spread of Covid-19. “Besides sealing the shops for 48 hours, the team also collected fine of Rs4.25 lakh from the offending shopkeepers,” he said.
Most shops were sealed for not ensuring physical distancing among customers, entertaining customers not wearing masks and not providing sanitisers.
The NDS data revealed that the highest numbers of violations were reported from Gandhibagh zone where 20 shops were sealed and fine of Rs1.80 lakh was collected.
Under Mangalwari zone, eight shops were sealed, four under Dharampeth zone and three each under Hanuman Nagar and Satranjipura zones. Under Nehru Nagar and Lakadganj zones, the NDS team sealed one shop each.
Sources said all the eating joints, especially Saoji eateries in Bajaj Nagar are brazenly violating the Covid-19 guidelines by allowing dining in till late night. The city police and civic cops are turning a blind eye to these violations, they said.