RAWALPINDI: Despite the decision of the Punjab government not to lift the lockdown, all markets and shops opened here on Saturday while the district administration and police remained mere spectators.

Traders opened shops of garments, jewellery, furniture, decoration pieces and all other items.

After remaining closed for over a month, when the markets reopened there was hustle and bustle.

In Saddar, police and cantonment authorities managed to close shops which had opened in the morning but no implementation of the lockdown was seen in Raja Bazaar and adjoining markets.

The citizens seemed worried over the opening of business activities and expressed the fear that it would increase the spread of the virus.

PM has allowed traders to open their businesses and we will not accept any lockdown order from Punjab govt, says traders’ leader

Talking to Dawn, Rawalpindi Traders Association President Sharjeel Mir said traders opened their outlets after a month and closed the shops by 4:30pm while adopting all safety measures.

He said Prime Minister Imran Khan had allowed the traders to open their businesses so “we would not accept any lockdown order from the Punjab government. The prime minister’s statement is available on the internet in which he allowed shopkeepers to open their shops,” he said.

When told that the government had asked small traders not to open shops on Saturdays and Sundays, Mr Mir said: “We would close our shops on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from next week but open them on Sunday (today).”

Deputy Commissioner Anwarul Haq said the administration managed to close down Murree Road shops and arrested many shopkeepers.

However, he did not give details about how many violators had been arrested and what action taken against them.

Divisional Commissioner Mohammad Mehmood told Dawn that there was a dire need to open shops and markets and other business activities as it will help traders and daily wagers to earn livelihoods for their families.

However, he said there was no instruction from the Punjab government to allow small shopkeepers to open their outlets.

He said a report had been submitted to the provincial government about the recommendations of the district administrations of the Rawalpindi division about the smart lockdown.

He said a final decision would be taken in Lahore in a day or two.

He said the numbers of coronavirus patients and deaths were increasing with the passage of time and there was a need to allocate a separate hospital for the patients.

“We have also demanded Rs250 million from the government to provide better health services to the confirmed patients,” he said.

However, the commissioner claimed that better medical treatment facilities were being provided to the patients in the Rawalpindi division due to which the number of patients recovering from the disease was also increasing fast.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2020