An apparel store on Theatre Road was closed. Another on Camac Street was open. A liquor store in Ballygunge was open. Another in Chandni Chowk was closed. Less than a fifth of the bookstores in the College Street area opened. The hawker zones of Gariahat and New Market were deserted.

There was no uniformity in how retail stores on Tuesday reacted to the new rule that they could stay open from noon to 3pm. Police’s interpretation of the rule and transport curbs were also a big impediment to opening the shops in the afternoon window. The Telegraph drove around the city and here is what it saw:

Rule

“Retail shops in addition to those already notified to be allowed to a degree in the below mentioned time frame vide earlier orders shall also be allowed to remain open during 12 noon and 3pm,” said the notification issued by the state government on Monday.

Until Monday’s notification, jewellery and sari shops were allowed to stay open from noon to 3pm, mainly because of the marriage season. But some stores selling readymade garments used to open in the afternoon window, too.

An open showroom on Camac Street around 1.30pm with few customers. Pradip Sanyal

“Absence of clarity” in the nature of retail shops that could open between noon and 3pm led different shop owners and the law enforcing officers to execute the order in different ways.

“There is no clarity on how to execute the order. A large number of store owners are calling up seeking permission to remain open between noon and 3pm. But we have kept them on hold and requested them to wait for a few more days,” said an officer in south Calcutta.

However, many shops in north and west Calcutta were open in the afternoon on Tuesday.

“We are allowing the shops, other than the ones that were open between 7am and 10am, to operate in the afternoon,” said an officer in south-west Calcutta.

Several officers feel it would be difficult to force the shops that are allowed to open in the morning as well as in the afternoon to close for two hours in between.

Apparel

On Tuesday, among the ones that were open in the afternoon was a store selling sportswear on Middleton Row. “There are hardly any customers. But being back in business feels good,” said an employee.

A franchisee of a menswear brand near the intersection of Camac Street and Theatre Road remained shut on Tuesday. “We are sanitising the store. We need to conform to a set of SOPs before we can open. We should open from Wednesday,” said the manager of the store.

An open sari shop in Gariahat with the hawker zone outside deserted around 1pm. Pradip Sanyal

Some other garment stores said they would start operating in a day or two. But several others said the lack of transport options was the main hurdle to opening because the employees would not be able to turn up.

Books

Of the 550-odd book stores in the College Street area, less than 100 had opened on Tuesday. Many of the store owners come from the suburbs. The suspension of local trains and the lack of adequate transport options prevented them from coming to work.

The owner of a store selling CBSE and ICSE books who lives in Sodepur, in North 24-Parganas, reached the shop riding a two-wheeler on Monday. “Opening the stall and setting things up took a lot of time. There were hardly any customers,” said the owner.

Liquor

Several liquor shops were open between noon and 3pm on Tuesday. But the queues were missing at the counters. There were two customers in front of a store in Kasba around 1.30pm. Stores in Ballygunge and Chowringhee were no different.

A few buyers at a wine shop in Ballygunge Phari around 1pm. Pradip Sanyal

But from Esplanade to Behala, many stores continued to remain shut, mainly because of transport curbs.

“I am trying to arrange for a temporary accommodation for at least two employees by this week so that they can open the store,” said the owner of a store on Diamond Harbour Road.