Day 1: Odd-even Plan To Reopen Shops In Hyderabad Brings In Confusion

HYDERABAD: The Telangana government extended the ongoing coronavirus induced lockdown till May 31st but the chief minister of the state, K.Chandrasekhar Rao announced many relaxations on lockdown guidelines across many sectors, but in Hyderabad, all shops will be opened as per odd-even rule.

Monday will be counted as an 'Odd Day' and Tuesday will be taken as an 'Even Day'. The decision was taken on Monday evening by the Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department (MAUD).

According to the new odd-even plan, if the shops are in a row then the numbers will be given to the shops as 1, 2, 3. If there is any confusion, then the GHMC staff has been asked to begin numbering with the corner most shop or the first shop in the street. But a lot of confusion prevailed among the shop owners across the city as they didn't get proper information about the odd-even plans for shops.

Dilip Kumar, president, Telangana Retail Shop Owners Association said, “They should have waited for a day to enforce the rules. They should have got the numbering done of shops done before opening. Those who are aware of the odd-even rule are informing others through WhatsApp. We waited for over 50 days, one more day wouldn’t hurt. We are sending WhatsApp text messages asking shops to wait for numbering by GHMC before they open.”

According to the MAUD, the shopkeepers should communicate and coordinate with each other to avoid problems and make the odd-even plan a success. The administration warned that it will close down all the shops till the lockdown period if any dispute between the shops arises.

KCR stressed that all the shopkeepers, establishments, offices, and industries have to provide hand sanitisers and take preventive measures such as physical distance. If anybody found not wearing masks, Rs 1,000 penalty will be imposed.

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