MUMBAI: Malls reopened for business on Sunday, but few visitors were visible despite the Independence Day holiday as the state government rules allow entry only for fully vaccinated visitors. Mall managers have sought a relaxation in norms to permit single dose guests to enter.
A spokesperson for the Shopping Centres Association of India said, “We thank the Maharashtra government for allowing malls to restart...However...Considering that the percentage of fully vaccinated people in Mumbai is only 18%, footfalls will continue to be very low till such time this restriction is relaxed. On the first say we saw just 10-15% pre-Covid footfalls.”
Visitor numbers issued by individual malls corroborated this fact. Sachin Dhanawade, COO, retail and real estate, of Growel's 1O1 Mall in Kandivli, said, “Due to the condition that mall visitors should be fully vaccinated, footfalls were barely 5% of the usual that we usually witness on August 15 (pre-pandemic). The footfalls would have been higher at 20%-25% of the pre-Covid Independence Day had partially vaccinated customers been allowed to enter.”
Like elsewhere, here too, customers who are not fully vaccinated had to be turned away. Dhanawade said: “We hope that the government will soon relax the rules to allow mall entry for citizens who have taken even a single dose. Malls should be allowed to operate at par with other shops and markets. Malls are controlled spaces and in fact have the ability to follow safety and hygiene protocol more efficiently than markets.”
