Bizmen against closure of shops

Surinder Bhardwaj

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Fatehgarh Sahib, May 4

Traders and shopkeepers dealing in non-essential items and industrialists have strongly resented the decision of the state government to impose a “mini-lockdown” in the state.

The traders, under the banner of the District Beopar Mandal, today protested and raised slogans against the government and demanded that either complete lockdown should be imposed or all shopkeepers should be allowed to open as the present scenario has created panic and increased the inflow of traffic and crowds in bazaars.

Addressing the media, Varinder Rattan, Beopar Mandal district president, said the present lockdown had created a chaos in almost all towns of the district as people are thronging grocery, chemists, mobile shops and vendors selling fruits and vegetables roadside. “Long queues are witnessed outside these shops resulting in the increase in positive cases in the district from average 40 to 100 daily,” he said.

He said the traffic flow had increased many fold and no social distancing was being maintained. He said earlier, the flow of traffic was smooth and people came out of their houses only to shop for necessity items, but now they were rushing to shops to stock the ration and medicines.

He said the government should waive the electricity bills of traders and industry and give compensation in GST as the traders have to pay rent, loan instalments and meet other expenses.