Lockdown of markets: Will suffer heavy losses, say Delhi traders

NEW DELHI: With Delhi government recommending to the Centre to temporarily close a few prominent markets in the city due to the surge in Covid cases, traders are worried about facing huge losses in the coming days.

Voicing apprehension, traders have asked the local administration to look for alternative ways to reduce crowds rather than close shops or entire markets. Some have suggested that shops be allowed to open on an odd-even basis or on alternate days. Others argued that the footfall was high during the festive season, but now things have become normal.

Ashok Randhawa, president of Mini Market Traders’ Association, Sarojini Nagar, said, “We have come to know that Sarojini and Lajpat are among the markets where the government might impose restrictions on opening of shops or movement of visitors. However, this will result in losses to us.”

“There was chaos in the market during the festive period due to heavy footfall and encroachment by hawkers. After action was taken against the violators, the situation became comparatively better. As things are pretty normal now, closing the market is not the solution to control the surge in Covid-19 cases,” added Randhawa.

Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has written to Union home minister Amit Shah and LG Anil Baijal saying the issue needs to be handled in a strategic way and pros and cons of shutting markets must be examined after consulting traders.

CAIT secretary general Praveen Khandelwal said, “It is important to consult traders before taking any such decision as the livelihood of lakhs of businessmen and their employees are at stake. Even though CM Arvind Kejriwal says that the pandemic is being handled in the most effective way, the situation is getting worse day by day. We stand fully in solidarity with the government, but taking any step without consulting us will be counterproductive. Apart from regular goods, even supply of essential commodities will be hit hard.”

Traders at Karol Bagh market fear losing customers during the peak season. Sanjeev Kapur, secretary of Beopar Mandal Ajmal Khan Road, said that retail markets or malls don’t face issues such as encroachment by hawkers like wholesale markets.