HOTELS, WEEKLY MKTS ALLOWED IN DELHI; GYMS TO STAY SHUT

NEWDELHI: The Delhi government on Wednesday allowed hotels to resume operations and weekly markets to open on a trial basis, but continued the ban on gymnasiums and yoga centres in the national capital.

The decision was taken in a meeting of the state disaster management authority (SDMA), helmed by Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and attended by vicechairperson chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, among others. Hotels and weekly markets will be opening in the city after a gap of nearly five months.

Kejriwal said the decision will boost Delhi’s economy, which saw a steep slump during the three-month nationwide lockdown imposed on March 25 to contain the spread of Covid-19.

“The Covid-19 situation in Delhi is much better now. The economy of Delhi has to be brought back on track. For that, we had proposed the opening of all hotels in Delhi, which was rejected by the Central government earlier. We requested the Centre again and are happy the proposal was finally approved on Wednesday. Now, all hotels in Delhi will open, while weekly markets will be opened on a trial basis. However, everyone must exercise precautions and follow social distancing,” Kejriwal said.

Senior government officials said the opening of hotels and weekly markets shall be prohibited in containment zones and an order notifying the SDMA decisions will be issued soon.

Hotel groups and associations were enthused by the lifting of restrictions and said coupled with the Delhi government’s July 30 decision to do away with the night curfew (imposed between 10pm and 5am), it would help attract more customers.

According to the Delhi government, the hotel industry in the capital contributes 8% of the state’s gross domestic product and employs nearly 400,000 people. Weekly markets, the government said, provide employment to nearly 500,000 poor families.

Hotels, gyms and yoga centres were allowed to open across the country from June 8 under the Central government’s unlock 3.0 guidelines issued on May 30. But in Delhi, these services remained prohibited as a preventive measure to curb the spread of Covid-19.

The Delhi government had first sent a proposal to open hotels and weekly markets to L-G Baijal on July 30. The LG, however, struck it down saying that the Covid-19 situation continues to be “fragile” in Delhi and the threat is still “far from over”.

On August 6, the government sent the proposal again, this time adding the demand to allow gyms and yoga centres to open as well, but the L-G did not respond. Instead, he scheduled the SDMA meeting on Wednesday.

“The L-G was of the view that the economic activities should be opened up in a phased manner. It was pointed out that even though the Covid-19 situation has somewhat stabilised, Delhi is still witnessing around 1,033 fresh cases on average every day,” an official who attended the SDMA meeting said, on condition of anonymity.