KOLHAPUR: With the expectation from the state government to decide on allowing non-essential shops to operate from Thursday evening, the traders from Kolhapur city will keep their shops shut for one more day on Thursday.
Traders’ representatives from Kolhapur met chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday. The traders said Kolhapur city and the villages under Kolhapur Urban Area Development Authority (KUDA)should be considered a single administration to fix the level of Covid restrictions. The traders said the city limits and the KUDA have a low positivity rate and therefore it should be put in level 3, as per which the non-essential shops are allowed to open.
Sanjay Shete, the president of Kolhapur Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI), who led the traders' delegation, said, “The CM immediately referred the proposal sent by the district administration for remarks to disaster management officials. We found the CM in favour of our demand so to keep faith in him we will wait till Thursday. Whatever the outcome, we will open shops from Friday.”
He said the CM allowed to present their views and then he discussed the issue with district guardian minister Satej Patil and city MLA Chandrakant Jadhav.
The proposal sent by the district administration has a major flaw. The positivity rate for the KUDA villages is not mentioned and it is still unknown whether the two limits qualify for level 3 together or not. “We expect the flaw to be pointed out by disaster management authorities. However, we expect the government to decide it as a special case,” he said.
Meanwhile, KCCI has started the drive to collect throat swabs of traders and staffers for RT-PCR testing.
