A health worker takes a swab sample to test for COVID-19 outside shopping mall in Mumbai.
Shopkeepers took to the streets in Mumbai to protest against the Maharashtra government's directive to keep establishments selling non-essential goods shut till April 30 to control the rise in COVID-19 cases.
As per the state government's fresh curbs, shops and establishments dealing in non-essential commodities and services will have to stay shut till the end of the month.
Medical stores, shops selling vegetables, groceries, dairies, among other essential service providers are allowed to function.
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According to the police, traders gathered in Borivali and Bhendi Bazaar area of south Mumbai shouting slogans and holding placards to protest the lockdown.
Traders under the banner of Borivali East Traders Association came on the roads with placards, while in Bhendi Bazaar, several protestors, including women, called for a roll back, an official said.
At many places, the police ordered the shutting of shops, which did not sell essential commodities and several were penalised too, the official added.
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