Ooty enforces rotational opening of shops
While the governments are constantly evolving new methods to ensure livelihood and also decongesting market places to arrest COVID spread, the Udhagamandalam Municipality has come up with a rotational plan.
Shops selling groceries and meat in the Udhagamandalm Municipality Market in The Nilgiris have been allowed to open on a rotational basis on alternate days to prevent crowding and stop the spread of COVID-19.
With the implementation of alternate model, only 50 per cent of shops will remain opened in the market, which has hundreds of shops.
Vegetable shops in the market were shifted to Udhagamandalam Central bus stand and ATC bus stand a few days ago. However, grocery shops and meat stalls continued to run in the market till the permitted time of 10 am.
As these shops are packed in close rows, the people thronging the market could barely maintain social distancing. Hence, the municipality officials divided the shops into ‘A’ and ‘B’ and stuck them in the shops.
Therefore, these shops will be opened only a rotational basis on alternate days to prevent people crowding the market.
Only mobile veggie sale
Similarly, in Salem, the lockdown enforcement has been made more stringent as vegetable markets were ordered to be closed and instead sales were done only through mobile vehicles since Thursday.
Traders were allowed to sell the vegetables in vehicles by visiting residential neighbourhood.