COVID-19 crisis: Traders body urge DDMA to allow malls, markets to work till 10 pm

New Delhi, Aug 07: The Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI) on Saturday urged the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) to allow malls and markets to operate till 10 pm.

These markets are presently allowed to operate till 8 pm. In its letter to DDMA, the CTI said there is "still no demand for extension of time in the wholesale markets but traders of retail markets want that the opening time should be increased from 8 pm to 10 pm".

"There are many festivals -- Hariyali Teej, Independence Day, Raksha Bandhan and Janmashtami -- coming up in the month of August. In this, the traders are feeling the possibility of getting business up, but the permission to open shops till 8 pm is proving to be insufficient," said CTI chairman Brijesh Goyal in a statement.

It said many markets, including Kamla Nagar, Lajpat Nagar, Connaught Place, Sarojini Nagar, South Extension, Rajouri Garden, Laxmi Nagar, Rohini, Pitampura, Greater Kailash, Karolbagh, have urged to increase the closing time.

According to the traders' body, even if the opening time of shops is changed from 10 am to 11 am in the morning, the closing time must be increased in the evening.

"If the shops will open till late in the evening, then there will be no crowd in the market. Everyone will be able to do their work comfortably. Corona rules will also be followed well," it noted.

Delhi BJP leaders had staged a demonstration near Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence on Friday, demanding permission for complete reopening of all weekly markets which were closed during the second wave of COVID-19.

Currently, only one weekly market in a municipal ward is allowed to open, according to Delhi government orders. Delhi was under a lockdown from April 19 to May 30 during the second wave of the Covid pandemic. Markets were allowed to open from June 7 under a phased reopening plan of the city government.