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Cop scanner on Kolkata biz hubs

Kolkata: The surge in business activity and subsequent crowding in the wholesale hub of Burrabazar has prompted police to shut down some markets within a week of Unlock 1.0 and impose restrictions on others for flouting social distancing norms. On Thursday, though there was some calm inside the markets, it was mayhem outside where hawkers encroached up on carriageways, labourers dumped goods on pavements and vehicles continued to unload goods and block the thoroughfare.

Cops conducted several surprise checks to see if social distancing norms were being followed and whether people wore masks.

“We met members of the associations of various markets in Burrabazar and adjoining areas and told them to sort out the mess or we will shut the markets indefinitely. Shops in containment zones were found conducting business and nobody was following social distancing norms. The streets were crammed with people and vehicles and none was wearing a mask,” an officer said.

In Mehta Building, shops have been asked to follow the odd-even formula. On Ezra Street, a wholesale hub for electrical goods, hawkers have been allowed to open stalls on alternate days and several shops in the containment zones of Harrison Road, Cotton Street, Sikdar Para, Banstalla, and MG Road have been shut.

Since these markets house several wholesale dealers, thousands throng this pocket every day. Officers said it was difficult to control the situation unless the business fraternity itself took the initiative.

Mehta Building, with close to 850 shops, have been asked to practice the odd-even formula. “Shops that are side by side will open on alternate days so that buyers can get enough space for social distancing. The same rule will apply to the dalas inside the market,” said Yash Bhartia, a joint secretary of the association.

Most of the markets in ward 23, which reported several Covid-positive cases and some deaths, have been told to shut down. “It is a sensitive zone and we had to work hard to break the chain of transmission. But the threat is still present. Since buyers come from all parts of the city and the suburbs, there is a risk of transmission to other areas too,” said an officer of Posta police station.

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