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Aizawl vegetable vendors appeal for return to business

By Correspondent

AIZAWL, May 24 - Even as most commercial establishments here have reopened after the State Government eased the lockdown restrictions, the Aizawl New Market is still remained shut, pushing about 400 vegetable vendors to a state of uncertainty.

The vegetable vendors have questioned the authorities concerned as to how small vegetable and meat markets and shops have been allowed to reopen, while ordering the closure of the New Market.

The vegetable vendors� association at the Aizawl New Market said that 80 per cent of the over 400 regular vegetable sellers in the market eke out their livelihood by selling vegetables there.

�Majority of us earn our livelihood by selling vegetables in the Aizawl New Market. After lack of business in the last two months, we are beginning to live from hand to mouth,� said a vegetable vendor. She added: �If the Government does not do something soon, many of us will face hunger.�

Besides the New Market, many localities in Aizawl have their own mini markets, where vegetables and meat are sold. These mini markets and shops have been allowed to reopen since Lockdown 3.0 that started from May 4. Shops in close proximity are, however, not allowed to open on the same day.

The vegetable vendors in New Market stated that they can resume their business by taking all necessary precautions. �We can open on alternate days to maintain physical distancing with other vendors. We can follow strict physical distancing rules while dealing with our customers,� the association leaders said.

In the revised guidelines for Lockdown 4.0, the State Government has also allowed shopping malls to reopen. But shops next to each other cannot open on the same day. Gyms and parlours, however, are not yet allowed to open.

A beauty parlour owner at Millennium Centre, the city�s biggest shopping mall, is unhappy about this. �Beauty parlours maintain cleanliness more than the other shops as a rule, and even before the pandemic broke out. We never entertain crowds of customers,� reasoned the parlour owner.

Meanwhile, all passenger vehicles have been allowed to ply within the State on condition that the seating capacity is not exceeded.

�What is the point of allowing a city bus to carry a full load of passengers and not allowing us to resume our business?� asked another vegetable vendor, who did not want to be named.

With no COVID-19 case now, Mizoram is a Green Zone where certain business activities have been allowed.

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