Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday announced that the weekly markets in the national capital will be allowed to open from August 9. The weekly markets were closed after the lockdown was imposed in Delhi on April 19 due to the surge in cases during the second Covid wave.
Later, in mid-June one weekly market in each municipal zone was allowed to open with strict adherence to Covid-appropriate behaviour and official guidelines.
The chief minister said his government is concerned about the livelihoods of the poor associated with these markets and urged people to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour.
"Weekly markets are being opened from Monday. These are poor people. Govt is quite concerned about their livelihoods. However, everyone's health and lives are also important. I urge everyone to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour after these markets are opened," he tweeted.
According to rough estimates, there are around 2,700 weekly markets that open on designated days in a week in 12 of the municipal zones, Delhi Cantonment and the New Delhi Municipal Council. Around four lakh people are associated with them for livelihood, vendors claim.
A detailed order by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority(DDMA) on reopening of weekly markets and guidelines to be followed by the stakeholders concerned is awaited.
The existing prohibited and restricted activities and services in Delhi as per the DDMA are scheduled to continue till 5 am on Monday.
Currently, only 50 per cent of the allowed vendors in a weekly market per zone are permitted to transact business there. Strict compliance of standard operating procedures (SOPs) and all instructions, guidelines issued by the government of India and the Delhi government are ensured by officials.
No weekly market is allowed to function on roadsides. Officials have been instructed to permit any weekly market in neighbourhood or school grounds. Random Covid tests and enforcement activities are also conducted there.
The decision to reopen all weekly markets in the city comes amid an improved Covid situation with positivity rate remaining below 0.12 per cent for the past many days.
Delhi reported 72 new coronavirus cases and one death on Saturday, taking the tally of infections in the national capital to 14,36,695 and the toll to 25,066, according to data shared by the health department.
(With PTI Inputs)
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