Amid a dip in daily Covid-19 cases in Mumbai, retail shop owners have urged the state government to allow them to reopen shops from June. Mumbai’s daily cases have gone below 1,500 after a spike in April.
Traders said they have been facing massive losses since the lockdown remains in effect for over 55 days.
“We request the Maharashtra government to allow us to reopen our shops from June 1 in a phased manner to revive the economy as cases are coming down in the state and especially in Mumbai. We have suffered a huge loss of revenue and jobs. We hope that now after 55 days of lockdown, the government will allow to resume the businesses of small traders across Maharashtra,” said Viren Shah, president of the Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association.
He added, “We will ensure proper precaution and safety for all our staffers and customers around.”
The Federation said by May end, they will face a huge loss to the tune of approximately Rs 70,000 crore across 13 lakhs shops in Maharashtra. Also, 55 lakh jobs are at stake, it added.
“Even during the first lockdown, shops were not closed for these many days, both essential and non-essential. Shops of essential items were allowed to function throughout the lockdown,” said Shah.
