A fresh problem has arisen before the state government — to address the troubles of the section of people who are unable to run their business during lockdown 4.0.
Business in the city edged towards normalcy on the first day of the fourth phase of the lockdown with relaxations allowing shops to open, barring shopping malls, salons, gymnasiums and parlours.
The government has not allowed these places to function yet.
On Monday, the Guwahati development department asked the Kamrup (metro) district administration to prepare a road map urgently to deal with the situation while continuing to fight Covid-19, the move coming 54 days after the lockdown began on March 24 midnight.
GDD minister Siddhartha Bhattacharya, after a discussion with the district authority, said, “A new problem has arisen. A large number of people who work in shopping malls, gymnasiums or run salons and beauty parlours continue to suffer because of the lockdown. Therefore, I have asked the district authority and the labour department to come up with a roadmap for the next three months to provide relief to these people. They are in deep trouble.”
He said immediate and innovative steps were required to address the situation.
Earlier, chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, citing a survey by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), had said that Assam was losing around Rs 1,000 crore daily because of the Covid-19-induced lockdown.
To those who have opened shops, city police issued a warning — adhere to the norms of social distancing and face cover or lose trade licence.
The authortities fear a possible rush in the market in view of Id celebrations and lockdown 4.0 relaxations.
Guwahati police commissioner M.P. Gupta said, “Since the lockdown has been eased for public utility, we urge the public to strictly adhere to the norm of social distancing. We have also decided to impose a fine of Rs 500 for not wearing face masks.”
On Monday, the top brass of the state police visited the containment zone of Fancy Bazar, the business hub of the Northeast which continues to remain closed, to assess the situation.
The traders in the area believe that it will be safe to reopen business only after the swab test results of the workers in the area are out.
A shopkeeper said, “Some of the traders wanted to open their shops today following lockdown 4.0 relaxations but we decided not to till the reports come clean.”
The health department has tested hundreds of workers from the area after about 20 people, contacts of the market’s first patient, were found to be positive.
The state Covid count was 106 till the filing of this report with at least 31 cases from the city.
Many traders also requested the Kamrup (metro) district administration to take immediate steps in terms of perishable food stocks lying unattended due to the containment zone restrictions in the area.
The metro administration declared Haryana Bhawan near Bharalumukh as a containment zone on Monday, following the detection of one positive case from a quarantine centre there. The city now has a dozen containment zones. The administration also withdrew its order of closure of Allahabad Bank, Machkhowa branch, here after the bank officials tested negative on Monday.
The bank authorities were asked to properly sanitise the bank premises before resuming their activities.