Shops, hotels, markets and transport services operated in Coimbatore, Tiruppur, and the Nilgiris districts on Sunday, after two months of total lockdown on Sundays in the State.
In Coimbatore district, the Sunday market in Gandhipuram was open, buses plied with thin commuter strength, and the vegetable and flower markets did not see much crowd. “We have not seen much crowd for almost a week now as there are no festivals,” said a vendor at the flower market. The Anna market and Flower market traders have appealed to the Coimbatore Corporation and the district administration to permit them to re-open shops at the permanent markets. Traders on Cross Cut Road and jewellery retailers, who had announced voluntary shutdown for a week till September 7, had already opened shops on Friday.
“With the buses operating again, we are getting customers from nearby towns and we do not want to keep the shops closed,” said B. Sabarinath, president of Coimbatore Jewellers’ Association.
C. Balasubramanian, vice president of Federation of Trade Associations, Coimbatore, said traders on Oppanakara Street and Raja Street had kept the shops open. “Only five sectors - vegetable, grocery, oil, textiles and jewellery - see good sales though the crowd on the roads is high. The other sectors have not recovered after the lockdown,” he said.
On the first Sunday in two months without the complete lockdown, Tiruppur did not witness any large crowds.
A senior Corporation official said that there were no complaints regarding overcrowding in prominent locations such as the old and new bus terminuses, Thennampalayam vegetable market and commercial establishments in the Corporation limits. “Overcrowding used to occur only before the complete lockdown,” he said, adding that the public have now become accustomed to the precautionary measures such as personal distancing and wearing masks.
In the Nilgiris district, with the e-pass system still in place, many hotels and resorts have stayed closed despite the ease in travel restrictions. Police officials said that a few hundred cars are entering the district each day on average, and only people who have business to attend to in the district, and who have valid e-passes are allowed to enter.
