Amaravati: Sunday closure of shops evokes mixed response

Amaravati: Though the number of corona cases are increasing rapidly, the response from the business community to the call given by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the closure of shops in Vijayawada city on Sunday evoked mixed response.

Most textile shops, textile showrooms, footwear shops, electrical appliance shops, mobile showrooms, furniture showrooms in Two Town areas and most wholesale and retail shops in One Town remained closed on Sunday.

But medical and fancy shops, confectionary shops, eateries, restaurants, hotels, bakeries, fruit juice shops and other shops in areas like Mutyalampadu, Satyanarayanapuram, Ajit Singh Nagar, Kedareswara peta and Krishna Lanka remained open. It now remains to be seen whether the shops will follow the instructions of the Chamber of Commerce which had asked the shops to close by 6 pm or not from Monday. The Chamber of Commerce took the decision since the campaign launched by the State and Central governments, district administration, the police department, NGOs and various trade and other associations to the people to observe Standard Operating Procedures to check the spread of Covid there was yielding expected results. Vijayawada Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Konakalla Vidyadhara Rao told The Hans India that the Chamber is the federation of 116 trade associations and industries and will again give a call on Monday to the employees working in the shops, commercial establishments and other places to leave the shop by 6 pm.

Meanwhile, Covid cases continue to rise across the State. As people continue to defy Covid norms and refuse to use masks. In towns like Rajamahendravaram, municipal corporations have decided to close all parks, community halls and cultural centres.

Sri Venkateswara Anam Kala Kendram in the city will remain closed from April 19 until further orders. In Krishna district, the police has warned that those who do not wear masks will be fined heavily. Still people do not seem to be much bothered. Scientists and medical professionals are expressing surprise at the Government's failure to impose effective precautionary measures to stop the alarming spread of the dreaded disease across the State.