Huge numbers of customers thronged shops across Raipur on Monday on day one of the lockdown's relaxation. Raipur and other district administrations have allowed many shops to open on the condition that they shut by 5.00 pm. With the relaxation coming after more than a month of total lockdown, people rushed to markets nearest to their homes and also to major markets in the city, causing traffic jams. Under the relaxation, only shops on either the left or right side of the road can open on a given day. But the shops transacted business on both sides in areas like Shankar Nagar, Mowa, Santoshi Nagar, Tikrapara and Lakhe Nagar. In the centralized market of Gol Bazar, Sadar Bazar and Malviya Road, only shops on one side resumed business.
The traffic looked as if it was a normal day though the lockdown will remain till May 31.
Most customers did not follow the Covid appropriate behaviour. A shopkeeper at Mowa, Komal Sinha, complained that people had to be regularly told to be in queue and maintain physical distance.
Meanwhile, at the market complex of Ravi Bhavan, Jairam Complex and Lal Ganga shopping mall, shopkeepers have pasted red and yellow stickers.
The red stickers indicate the shops will open on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Those with yellow stickers will open on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
