Mumbai: In many wards, shops open on both sides

Unlike the liquor shops that brought chaos on the roads during the brief reopening last month there was lukewarm response to garment hardware and other stores resuming business on Friday Shopowners are hoping next week will see a better responseMoreover not all shops reopened as many owners decided to wait till Monday some hoping for clarity on which side of the road is right and which is left so that the alternate plan can be properly implemented The BMC has allowed shops on either sides to reopen on alternate days to ensure lesser crowdCity partially reopened on Friday with caution as the government has relaxed certain COVID19 lockdown restrictions during lockdown 50 allowing shops except restaurants malls and salons to reopen BMC has also allowed plumbers electricians pestcontrol companies and technicians to resume workIn Borivli several garment and hardware sellers reopened their shops on one side but not many customers came out for shopping They shut shops postafternoon even though the BMC has allowed them to operate till 5 pmIn Borivli the right side of the road was decided in relation to the railway station But the shops will start fullfledged only from Monday Some of the shopkeepers went to native places when the lockdown started While there is the issue of migrant workers returning home the shops also need to be washed and sanitised said Vidyarthi Singh a local corporator from Borivli EastAbhishek Raut a resident of I C Colony said The shops may have been given guidelines to ensure safety but it is better to wait and before venturing out for shopping of nonessential items Moreover those items are easily available on ecommerce platformsShops marked on the map in these areas in Andheri West on the red side will open on Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays while those on the green side the rest of the weekdays All shops are to remain shut on SundaysThe sides were also decided in K West ward On NorthSouth bound roads like S V Road the right side has been chosen while facing the North and for EastWest roads like J P Road the right side is considered while facing East direction said Vishwas Mote assistant commissioner of K West wardNanji Dedhia of A1 Super Bazar who is also the head of the association of shopkeepers in I C Colony of Borivli said Few shops opened today as per the regulations but they hardly got customers Local BMC officials and police visited and reiterated the regulations and asked the officebearers to create awareness among shop ownersMore vehicles on roadMeanwhile a significant increase in twowheelers and fourwheelers were seen on roads in Andheri Oshiwara Jogeshwari and Goregaon At several places roadside tea and vada pav stalls also reopened along with other permitted nonessential shops Vehicle repair shops also reopened at many places on FridayHowever fewer customers were seen throughout the city even in the popular shopping spots in Bandra and Khar The few shop owners who resumed business on Friday said they spent the day cleaning their stores and they are expecting guests only from next weekAsif Khan who has been selling clothes off a stall on Hill Road for some 20 years said he had only opened to clean up and go through the old stock I dont think vendors are allowed to open today I will reopen for business from Monday and we are hoping for people to show up he addedEven the bigger shops saw no activity on Friday Bhanji Gada owner of Trios one of the largest garment shops on Hill Road said they have opened with only 10 per cent of the staff Majority of our workers were from Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh and they have all returned to their hometowns We spent the day cleaning and we havent had any customers today Due to the lockdown we have suffered losses Well see what kind of response we get next week and then we will take a call on whether to call our workers back to Mumbai he addedAnother shop owner Rajesh Bajaj said they have to sell their old stock before even thinking about ordering fresh supplies Investing in new products would be useless We have suffered losses over the past two and a half months when we had to shut our business We are hoping for situation to improve he saidStaff members at a Metro store in city clean the premises as it repoens after more than two months on Friday Pic Suresh KarkeraApart from shopping areas popular public spaces like the promenade at Carter Road was empty People were only spotted at grocery stores and other shops selling essential items Even the usually crowded row of footwear shops opposite National College on Linking Road were shutIn Dadar the confusion over the right side of the road still remain While we didnt get any message from F South ward the shops on the other side of the roads were told to open on Tuesdays Thursdays and Saturdays Besides we are still waiting for customers So we will open it tomorrow too said Chandan Vasaria from Naigaon Cross Road who has a garment shopHarakchand Gosar a shopkeeper in Dadar told midday that very few customers came to the shops for toys Obviously it will take some days for normalcy to return Today shops on both the side of the roads are open I havent received any info till nowMeanwhile many ward offices issued a notification on the timings G North ward comprising Dadar West Mahim and Dharavi have instructed the owners to allow their workers to leave maximum by 8 pm so that they can reach home before the curfew starts at 9 pm The BMC has allowed the shops to remain open between 9 am and 5 pmCity enjoys open spaces after 2 monthsConfined within the walls of their homes for over two months several people came out to enjoy the open spaces on Friday Most gardens and parks across the city were reopened on Friday after the mess caused by the cyclonic storm was cleaned Snehal Joshi a resident of Borivli told midday that the garden near her resident was open only for a few hours in the morning There is a banyan tree and women come to worship it on VatPurnima Maybe the garden was closed to avoid the crowd she saidCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news