Kerala, Gujarat set to open shops; Maharashtra, Punjab stay shut

Late on Friday, the Union Home Ministry said standalone retail shops in urban areas could start operations with 50 percent staff strength, appropriate social distancing and adherence to wearing masks and gloves during work but prohibited shops in market places, malls and COVID-19 hotspots and containment zones from opening till May 3.

Maharashtra, which continues to report the highest number of COVID-19 deaths in the country at 323, refused to ease the lockdown. State Health Minister Rajesh Tope said the lockdown guidelines will remain unchanged in Maharashtra till May 3. The state is likely to extend the lockdown in Mumbai and Pune to May 15 from May 3 when the second phase of lockdown ends.

Punjab, with 220 active COVID-19 patients, has decided not to allow retailers to resume operations. The cabinet will decide on May 30, said chief minister’s media advisor Raveen Thukral.

After initial reluctance, the Delhi government in the evening allowed neighbourhood shops, stand-alone shops and shops inside residential complexes to open.

The decision will not cover liquor shops or barber shops. However, through the day, some shops opened their doors, and market associations asked members to not rush in.

Kerala said it would go by the latest guidelines of the Centre. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said, according to relaxations announced by the Home Ministry, all shops registered as per the Shops and Establishment Act outside the limits of municipalities and municipal corporations can open. Within the municipalities, standalone shops can open.

As Kerala has urbanised villages, the Chief Minister said shops outside the hotspots have to be allowed to function.

However, all shops would have to be cleaned and disinfected before opening for the public. At present, mobile shops, medical shops, bakeries, takeaways including home delivery from hotels and vegetable kiosks are allowed to function, barring those in hotspots and containment zones.

Along with shops, Gujarat government has allowed software and IT companies to start operations from Sunday with 50 per cent staff capacity. The government has declared 127 cluster containment zones in 20 districts of Gujarat, of which 22 are in Ahmedabad and 16 each in Surat and Narmada. Confusion prevailed among traders across Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana following the Centre’s decision to allow some shops to open with mandatory precautions.

In parts of Haryana, traders rushed to open their shops after the Union Home Ministry’s instructions went viral on social media. Traders in Hisar thronged marketplaces on Saturday morning. But the police stopped them since there were no instructions from the state government.

In the evening, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said detailed instructions on shops that can open will be sent to districts. He said shops will begin to open in Haryana from Sunday onwards.

Madhya Pradesh on Saturday announced that shops selling essential commodities can open in districts other than Indore, Bhopal, Ujjain, Khargone, Jabalpur and Dhar that have seen large number of COVID-19 infections. Crisis management groups in every district will decide on the shops that can open, said Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Though the Uttar Pradesh government is yet to decide on allowing retail shops Lucknow District Magistrate Abhishek Prakash ordered that shops in the district will remain shut.

Uttarakhand allowed shops in the nine hill districts falling in the green zone to open and ordered status quo in the remaining four districts of Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar. In Odisha, authorities allowed stranded labourers to travel within the state for work.