According to official orders published on Saturday, the Delhi government has ordered the closure of Sarojini Nagar’s Export Market until further orders are issued for ‘grossly’ breaking COVID-19 norms amid the ongoing pandemic.
Sub Divisional Magistrate (Vasant Vihar) Ankur Prakash Meshram issued the directions. He found the market to be “very congested with COVID-19 norms being excessively broken and no social distancing being followed at all” during an inspection he did on Saturday.
‘…various directions have been issued from time to with regards to ensuring CAB in Sarojini Nagar Market, latest being CEO New Delhi DDMA minutes of meeting No.SDM/VV/2021/1935 dated 9th July 2021, and it has been found that market associations have not complied with these directions,’ the order read.
In order to prevent it from becoming a Covid super spreader, the Export Market at Sarojini Nagar shall remain closed from Sunday (July 18) till further orders, it noted.
The order also stated that although a meeting with all the stakeholders of the market was held on July 9, the market associations failed to comply with the directions discussed in the meeting.
It was discussed in the meeting that market associations would issue ID cards for all the shopkeepers. The police were to allow only those shopkeepers who have these cards. Further, it was also decided that shopkeepers would ensure the porch area in front of their shops are free from encroachment and only limited staff would be deployed inside the shops.
Delhi was under a complete lockdown from April 19 to May 30, following which the national capital saw a phased unlock process.
( With ANI Inputs )
