The coal town traders have initiated self regulatory measures for shops and business establishments across the district following the surge in Covid-19 cases across the country.

In Jharia, the vegetable shops are closing by noon, while grocery shops have fixed their closing time to 3pm. The deadline for medicine shops is 10pm and the liquor shops are closing at 8pm.

At Bank More, the commercial hub of the district, the market is open till 3pm while vegetable shops are open till 1pm.

Amit Sahu, president of Jharia Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said, “Though the suggestion to restrict the shop opening time has been given by the local administration but owing to the grim situation everywhere we have decided to abide by the suggestion and restrict the shop opening time further.”

Jitu Kehsri, a shop owner of Jharia, while appreciating the self regulation drive said ,“Exposure to a crowd for a longer period of time is more dangerous compared to limited hours of exposure so our decision to restrict the shop opening is quite justified.”

Spokesperson of Bank More chamber of commerce, Sandeep Mukherjee said, “different sections of traders began regulations even ahead of the state imposed restrictions. Over 100 producers, suppliers and retailers of electric products under the banner of Dhanbad Electric Traders Association had decided to close down their shops for three days from April 21 to 24 on their own before the state's decision.”

Mukherjee said added that though the chamber has not taken any centralised decision to restrict the shop opening timings, if traders are themselves taking a decision to regulate the timings, they are supporting the decision.