Will protest if market curbs not revoked, traders tell UT admn

CHANDIGARH : Reeling under losses due to the pandemic-induced lockdown, traders met UT adviser Manoj Parida on Thursday and threatened to go on strike if weekend restrictions and odd-even formula imposed in some city markets are not removed.

Beopar Mandal president Anil Vohra said it was unfair to target only traders when the rest of the city remained open, while its chairman Charanjiv Singh revealed that sales had dropped down to nearly 25% for traders of non-essential items.

The body’s general secretary, Kamaljit Panchhi added that the odd-even restrictions were especially bad for the small traders in some of the congested markets as they didn’t have enough money to make ends meet.

The traders have also reached out to municipal commissioner KK Yadav and BJP president Arun Sood.

Vohra also held that the UT adviser was sympathetic to the problems faced by the traders and they were hopeful that the curbs would be revoked at the war room meeting on Friday.

Meanwhile, the Tricity Salon Association met with the UT adviser and stated that weekends accounted for around 50% of their business. The local unit of Aam Admi Party (AAP) also met the adviser and demanded relaxation in the weekend lockdown and withdrawal of oddeven system for shops in congested markets.