On the weekly closure day for shops and marketplaces in the Dehradun city on Sunday, the commercial establishments that do not fall under the essential services category remained closed. This was informed by the city magistrate Kusum Chauhan who also added that the district administration had already instructed authorities to ensure the implementation of the orders of the weekly closure of marketplaces that helped considerably in keeping shops closed on Sunday. She said that she herself made rounds in the city to ensure the closure of all the shops in marketplaces except the commercial establishments selling medicines, vegetables, fruits, petrol and dairy products. According to her, the residents as well as the local businessmen of the city cooperated thoroughly in this weekly closure. Moreover, the Dehradun district magistrate Ashish Kumar Srivastava has ordered the district officials to take action under the Uttarakhand Epidemic Diseases Covid-19 Regulations 2020 against those who do not follow the rules on weekly closure. Responding to this, Chauhan said that the day of the weekly closure went smoothly and the authorities did not face any serious trouble from the locals due to weekly closure.

The officials said that the weekly closure provided an opportunity to sanitise the marketplaces and minimise the risk of Covid-19 in the city. Meanwhile, the deputy municipal commissioner Rohitash Sharma stated that the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) sanitised all the main marketplaces of the city. The officials informed that about 50 tractors were used to sterilise the main marketplaces of all the 100 wards.

Moreover, the DM also appealed people to use face masks, sanitisers and maintain physical distancing in public places to minimise the risk of Covid-19 contagion. He also asked people to contact a medical professional as soon as they notice any symptoms of the disease.

It will be recalled here that the authorities had earlier provided some relaxation in the routine weekly closure during the festive period. In order to check the spread of Covid-19 the authorities have once again started enforcing the weekly closure