Business as usual on Sunday, janata curfew flops

Nagpur: There was no impact of mayor Sandip Joshi’s appeal to observe janata curfew on Sunday as many shops remained open. On account of it being Sunday, all offices, government as well as private, were closed and so were some shops. But September 27 was no different from any other Sunday.

Joshi had appealed to people to stay indoors on Saturday and Sunday on September 24 to contain the spread of Covid-19. However, people did not take his appeal seriously.

The administration has refused to support the mayor in enforcing the lockdown. Both Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) and police have made it clear that it is completely voluntary.

When janata curfew was announced for the first time, the then municipal commissioner Tukaram Mundhe supported it and had asked police to enforce it. The second time the trade associations supported it and so some shops were closed. However, this time there was no appeal by trade associations to observe a janata curfew.

Rajkumar Sangtani, an opticals shop owner in Dharampeth, said he had suffered a lot of loss during the lockdown when the markets were closed. “Normally, I keep my shop closed on Sunday but now things are different. I have to recoup the loss incurred during the lockdown so there is no time for rest. These curfews will not help the city. The mayor should instead increase the number of hospitals treating Covid patients. There is tremendous shortage of beds,” he told TOI.

Other shopkeepers too advised the mayor to focus on improving the health care infrastructure rather than asking people to stay indoors.


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