Shops shut since March 21, traders in Jahangirpuri seek nod to lift shutters
NEW DELHI: After being forced to remain shut for nearly three months, at least 8,000 traders in north Delhi’s Jahangirpuri, a containment zone, are demandi ng t hat t hey be al l owed t o reopen shops as they are now struggling to survive without a means of livelihood.
Shops in Jahangirpuri had been shut since March 21, four days before the nationwide lockdown to combat Covid-19 kicked in. On April 8, Block B in this neighbourhood became the first of 12 containment zones to crop up across the locality.
According to district officials, nearly 300 Covid-19 cases have been reported from all of Jahangirpuri, where around seven lakh people live, making this one of the most prolific hot spots in north Delhi. Of the 34 containment zones in north district, 12 are in Jahangirpuri.
Officials said even though cases rose sharply in the locality in the initial two months, only isolated cases are being reported now, but the authorities are still wary of lifting the curbs.they said it may take another week before they even start thinking of allowing markets to open.
Traders along with local area councillor met district magistrate (north) Deepak Shinde on Wednesday and requested him to make arrangements to allow them to open shops in some pockets of Jahangirpuri where there are fewer cases.
Jahangirpuri councillor Poonam Bagri said in other parts of the city, only those lanes are sealed from where Covid-19 cases are reported while markets are allowed to open with restrictions. But that was not the case in Jahangirpuri.
“In Jahangirpuri, markets are still closed and shopkeepers and vendors have no earnings. We have written to lieutenantgovernor Anil Baijal, and chief minister Arvind Kejri wal regarding the problems being faced by traders and residents of the area due to the closure of markets. Surviving without a l i velihood for nearly t hree months is not easy for middleclass and lower middle-class families of Jahangirpuri,” she said.
Bagri s ai d s ome parts of Sadar Bazar, which was a containment zone, has now been opened after traders protested and raised the matter with the a d mini s t r a t i o n. “Shi nde assured us he will conduct an inspection with health department officials to assess the Covid-19 situation and allow shops in some pockets to open at least by next week,” she said.
Rahul Juneja, member of Jahangirpuri B-C Block market association, said, “Items in the shops are getting spoiled — rats have destroyed ready-made garments. We have no income, and, yet have to pay fixed charges for power and water. We are now struggling to survive and the situation will become worse if we are not allowed to open our shops.”
Shinde said isolated cases have been reported from different pockets of Jahangirpuri and so the area continues to remain a containment zone and markets cannot be allowed to open.