Delhi government withdraws order to close 2 markets for flouting Coronavirus norms

New Delhi: An order to shut two markets in west Delhi till the end of this month for violating various coronavirus safety guidelines was withdrawn, hours after being issued.

The Delhi government on Sunday had ordered the closure of two markets in Punjabi Basti and Nangloi after it was found that the traders were not following the Covid protocols laid down by the government. The two markets were ordered to be sealed till November 30.

However, the order was withdrawn on Monday morning. Additional District Magistrate Dharmendra Kumar said the order to close the Punjabi Basti and Nangloi Janata Bazaar has been withdrawn.

The word lockdown, however, was not used anywhere in the order issued by the administration earlier. Despite this, the markets were ordered to be closed. The first order was implemented with the help of the police and local administration.

The Delhi government on Monday clarified that it was not considering a lockdown in Delhi again and the traders need not worry.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Health Minister Satyendar Jain confirmed this.

Sisodia said, "I want to assure the people that the government has no intention of putting a lockdown again in Delhi. However, our request to the market associations is to regulate the market conditions themselves."

"Cooperate in establishing the right system in the markets. Along with this, there is an appeal to the people who go to the market for shopping to use masks and take care of social distancing. With this, we want to make it clear once again that there will be no lockdown in Delhi at all."