The weekly closure of shops and marketplaces on Sundays has returned in Dehradun from today as a measure to contain Covid-19 contagion in the city. The Dehradun district magistrate Ashish Kumar Srivastava has directed authorities to ensure the implementation of the weekly closure of shops on Sunday which was not followed in the city during the festive season. As informed by the city magistrate Kusum Chauhan, the commercial establishments like petrol pumps, medical shops, vegetables and fruits shops and dairies are allowed to operate on Sunday and if any shops which do not fall under essential services will operate without the approval of the authorities, strict actions will be taken against the owners.

However, the officials informed that the home delivery services for any products including food will not be prohibited during the weekly closure of markets. Apart from this, Srivastava has also instructed the officials of the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) to sanitise all the main marketplaces of the city as the crowd on the weekly closure day would be less in the public places.

According to deputy municipal commissioner Rohitash Sharma, the municipal corporation is regularly sanitising the areas where it is required and as per the directions, the main marketplaces will be sanitised on this Sunday too. Moreover, Srivastava has also directed additional district magistrates (ADMs) to ensure the implementation of the weekly closure on Sunday. He has ordered to take action under the Uttarakhand Epidemic Diseases Covid-19 Regulations 2020 against those who fail to follow the orders of the administration. Meanwhile, Srivastava also added that the administration is providing relaxation to the wedding ceremonies on Sunday which were planned already.