Sadar Bazar Market traders protest against odd-even shop opening arrangement
New Delhi Jan 18 PTI Traders of Sadar Bazar Market on Tuesday staged a protest over the DDMAs odd-even arrangement for opening of shops which was imposed due to a surge in Covid cases in the cityThey wore black armbands and displayed placards saying no odd-even and Delhi traders oppose odd-even Traders have demanded to end this odd-even arrangementParamjit Singh Pamma Vice Chairman of the Federation of Sadar Bazar Traders Associations said the odd-even arrangement for markets on week days coupled with weekend curfew has limited their number of business days to as low as two per weekPamma said that with 8-10 business days a month it will be difficult for them to manage shop rent workers salary and other expensesWe request the government to allow opening of shops on all week days They can reduce our timing to 6 pm instead of 8 pm This odd-even rule should be lifted as we are unable to function and recover losses of previous lockdowns Our expenses have now surpassed our income Pamma told PTIHe added that traders in the market will keep protesting until the odd-even arrangement is liftedThe Delhi Disaster Management Authority DDMA had in December last year announced odd-even arrangement for markets after cases of Covid and its Omicron variant had started increasingOn January 4 this year the DDMA imposed a weekend curfew in the cityHowever Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain had last week said that the city might see some relaxations once daily cases go below 15000COVID-19 cases in Delhi has been reducing for last four-five daysAccording to data shared by the state health department Delhi reported 11684 fresh COVID-19 cases and 38 more deaths due to the viral disease on Tuesday while the positivity rate stood at 2247 percentPamma further said that these restrictions have no meaning when everything else is openMetro and buses are operating at full capacity and also there is no crackdown on street vendors which leads to crowding then there is no point in troubling shopkeepers These moves are to kill business Pamma lamentedKamla Market Traders Association President Nitin Gupta also echoed similar concerns and said that shopkeepers are following all Covid protocols but still they are being punishedCrowd in markets is due to illegal vendors who also often violate Covid guidelines but there is no crackdown against them If an odd number shop is closed then street vendors open their makeshift kiosk in front of that closed shop and they do the same when even number shop is shut So the entire exercise is not serving any purpose Gupta said PTI AKM TIR TIR
New Delhi Jan 18 PTI Traders of Sadar Bazar Market on Tuesday staged a protest over the DDMAs odd-even arrangement for opening of shops which was imposed due to a surge in Covid cases in the cityThey wore black armbands and displayed placards saying no odd-even and Delhi traders oppose odd-even Traders have demanded to end this odd-even arrangementParamjit Singh Pamma Vice Chairman of the Federation of Sadar Bazar Traders Associations said the odd-even arrangement for markets on week days coupled with weekend curfew has limited their number of business days to as low as two per weekPamma said that with 8-10 business days a month it will be difficult for them to manage shop rent workers salary and other expensesWe request the government to allow opening of shops on all week days They can reduce our timing to 6 pm instead of 8 pm This odd-even rule should be lifted as we are unable to function and recover losses of previous lockdowns Our expenses have now surpassed our income Pamma told PTIHe added that traders in the market will keep protesting until the odd-even arrangement is liftedThe Delhi Disaster Management Authority DDMA had in December last year announced odd-even arrangement for markets after cases of Covid and its Omicron variant had started increasingOn January 4 this year the DDMA imposed a weekend curfew in the cityHowever Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain had last week said that the city might see some relaxations once daily cases go below 15000COVID-19 cases in Delhi has been reducing for last four-five daysAccording to data shared by the state health department Delhi reported 11684 fresh COVID-19 cases and 38 more deaths due to the viral disease on Tuesday while the positivity rate stood at 2247 percentPamma further said that these restrictions have no meaning when everything else is openMetro and buses are operating at full capacity and also there is no crackdown on street vendors which leads to crowding then there is no point in troubling shopkeepers These moves are to kill business Pamma lamentedKamla Market Traders Association President Nitin Gupta also echoed similar concerns and said that shopkeepers are following all Covid protocols but still they are being punishedCrowd in markets is due to illegal vendors who also often violate Covid guidelines but there is no crackdown against them If an odd number shop is closed then street vendors open their makeshift kiosk in front of that closed shop and they do the same when even number shop is shut So the entire exercise is not serving any purpose Gupta said PTI AKM TIR TIR
