FRTWA President Viren Shah Says, “Queues Were Noticed Outside Wine Shops And Not Outside Other Non-Essential Stores” So Why Other Shops Be Asked To Shut?

Mumbai: Mumbai’s civic body revoked on Tuesday permissions for stores selling liquor and non-essential supplies after huge crowds on the city’s streets disregarded social distancing norms necessary to curb the spread of Covid-19, becoming the first region in the country to roll back the relaxations allowed in the ongoing national lockdown.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner Praveen Pardeshi issued a circular on Tuesday stating that only groceries and medical stores will be allowed to stay open. This came on a day the state crossed the 15,000 mark for Covid-19 cases (15, 525) and registered 984 cases.

“There are multiple reports, news in social media and inputs received from the police and the ward officials that due to above relaxation there has been huge crowds gathering near these shops and where it has been impossible to maintain social distancing and there were few instances of law and order situation arising out of such crowds gathering at one place,” the circular stated. “It has been observed that number of positive cases in the city of Mumbai have been rising and the downward trend to set in an gathering of crowds in large numbers without following social distancing will be detrimental to the control of spread of virus and the advantages of the lockdown will be lost due to gathering of people in large numbers,” it further read.

Cities, towns and villages across India saw snaking queues outside liquor stores and other shops on Monday after the government relaxed restrictions and allowed shops selling liquor and non-essential supplies to open after nearly 40 days.

But with Mumbai’s Covid-19 numbers nudging 10,000 – the city registered 9,945 cases with 635 new infections on Tuesday – Pardeshi said the authorities feared that the relaxations were likely to deteriorate the situation.

Traders criticised the move. Viren Shah, president of Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association ( FRTWA), said, “Shopkeepers across Mumbai are shocked and confused with the government’s change in stand every other day.There was no issue with opening of non- essential product stores in Mumbai. Queues were noticed outside wine shops and not outside other non-essential stores. So why other non-essential shops be asked to shut?”

Of the new cases in Maharashtra on Tuesday, 841 were reported in last 24 hours, while the remaining 143 were carried forward from the previous few days in accordance with the central government’s directive to bring on par state data with national figures on the website of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the state government stated. The state also registered 34 fatalities on Tuesday, pushing the death toll up to 617.

With numbers rising, a worried state government has instructed district officials to double down on enforcement of restrictions in containment zones and disperse crowds.

A senior government official said chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has directed the district authorities to contain the spread of the virus by the end of May but full containment by then looks difficult. “He has set the target and asked the authorities to ensure strictest monitoring under the principle of 3-Ts (tracing, testing and treatment) in containment areas. He has also asked them to focus on shrinking containment zones to neutralize the areas. Though the cases are not expected to come to nil so soon, we expect downward trend to begin by then,” the official added.