The Ranchi district administration has once again banned all types of community function and feast at marriage halls, banquet halls and other public places. The administration took the decision as in the last few days there has been a spike in Covid 19 cases. The Ranchi district administration on Monday issued a directive, under which holding of all public functions such as marriage, birthday or other celebrations will be banned at marriage halls, banquet halls. The district administration citing the order passed by Chief Secretary states that all public functions have been banned.
The administration also states that action will be taken against those who violate the directive. Those who fail to comply with district administration directives will be booked under various sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and disaster management act.
The Ranchi district administration directives are a setback for banquets hall owners as they are already facing hard time due to lockdown. Lal Prem Prakash Nath Shahdeo the proprietor of Lal Gutwa Banquet Hall said, “More than 50 marriage bookings in April, May were cancelled in lockdown. We are facing a bad phase. The fresh directives are going to bring more problems for us the banquet halls will be closed.”
“It is uncertain when the district administration will provide relaxations to us,” added Shahdeo. With the closure of banquet halls and marriage halls, traders engaged with tent houses business too are affected.
Rajesh Kumar Singh owner of Sona Tent House, Harmu said, “Our business has been closed since March 26 when lockdown was imposed. Last week we opened our outlets, but there are no new bookings.”
He claimed that the situation is so disturbing that they are even facing problems in giving salaries to their staff, shop and godown rents.
Even traders engaged with hotel business are facing difficult times. A trader who runs a hotel in the Upper bazaar area said, “For past three months our business has been zero. But we have to pay salaries to our staff, electricity bill and other expenses.” The trader claimed that it is unlikely when the business will gain pace as movement of traders from other parts of states and country is restricted due to closure of bus and truck transportation.
Sources said that the district administration has decided to put a ban on closure of functioning of banquet halls and marriage halls as in past few days there has been hike in Covid 19 cases. The Covid 19 death toll in Jharkhand jumped from 15 to 20 in the past three days, with the latest in a series of Covid 19 deaths reported from Dhanbad on Monday. The Covid 19 cases near 3000 as in the last few days there has been a rise in cases.
