Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will temporarily close down shops in its markets whose owners are found not wearing masks and violating other Covid protocol, the civic body has said through a notice issued to traders’ associations of the markets.
A repeat violation can even lead to cancellation of the permit to run a shop in the market, a senior official of the civic body said on Wednesday evening.
The threat of strong punitive action had to be issued in the backdrop of the rapid rise in daily infection numbers, said the official.
KMC has also scheduled a meeting with traders associations of private markets in the city where they, too, will be urged to take the strong penal action against violators.
The official added that initially the shop whose owner is found to be a violator will be “asked to keep the shop closed for a day or two as penal action”.
There are 47 KMC-run markets in the city like Gariahat market, Maniktala market and Entally market. There are about 300 private markets like Koley market and Nafar Babu market.
“We have come to a situation where we cannot remain indifferent towards those who do not wear masks or who stand in a crowd outside or inside a shop. The onus will be on the shop owners to ensure that their employees as well as customers’ wear masks and maintain distance from one another,” said the official.
In markets run by the KMC, the security staff and market superintendents have been asked to keep a watch on whether shop owners or stall owners were maintaining Covid protocol. Those who are found violating the norms will be first warned and then penal action will be taken against them.
“The traders should always wear masks and should not allow any customer who is not wearing a mask properly to enter their shops/should not serve any customer who is not wearing a mask properly,” the notice issued on Monday said.
The notice added: “non-compliance in this respect may lead to temporary closure of shops or any other penal action.”
If the initial measure of keeping the shop closed for a day or two fails to change the actions of the shop owner, the KMC may be forced to take “stricter” action against the owner.
In case of shops in KMC-run markets, the civic body enjoys the power to even revoke the permission to run the shop.
“But in case of private markets and shopping malls, the traders associations have to take action against the offender shop,” said the KMC official.