A delegation of Federation of Dhanbad Zila Chamber of Commerce and Industry has met Dhanbad deputy commissioner Amit Kumar and requested him to initiate steps to allow reopening of garment, footwear, studio, cosmetic, tailor shops, printing press, etc., which are closed since the Janata Curfew on March 20.

The delegation comprising all 55 units of the federation and led by its president Chetan Goenka apprised Kumar of the unprecedented difficulties they are facing during the over 70-day nationwide lockdown. They informed him about the lack of permission for the majority of them to open their establishments even as various shops, including those for jewellery and electronics, have been allowed the same.

The traders further assured the deputy commissioner that they will strictly adhere to social distancing norms and other guidelines to help the government contain the spread of Covid-19.

Talking to The Telegraph Online on Friday, president of Purana Bazar Chamber of Commerce Md Sohraba said, “We apprised the deputy commissioner of the extreme financial difficulties faced by over 5,000 traders of garment, cosmetic and tailoring establishments, among others. He assured us that he will convey our grievances to the state government.”

“We assured the deputy commissioner that we won’t allow the customers to try on dresses and also won’t return the articles once sold, in order to minimize the chances of spread of the virus, besides observing other common steps like social distancing, use of sanitisers, masks, regular sanitisation of shops, etc,” Sohrab, who was part of the delegation, said.

“With zero income, we are facing the burden of paying staff salary, rent for shops and godowns as well as fixed charges of electricity—all of which are cumulatively denting into our limited capital. The decay of products in consignment due to rusting is another major factor leading to losses,” said Sohrab.

Citing the example of loss due to decay of products, he said, “when my staff opened my cloth shop to bring out a document, he found cockroach eggs on a garment, spoiling the item which is worth Rs 7,000”. He added that similar problems are being faced by other shopkeepers, including the tailor shops, due to the lockdown.

“We have sought one-day permission from the deputy commissioner to open our shops, not to sell our products but to clean them and collect crucial documents needed to avoid losses,” he said, adding that the deputy commissioner has instructed the SDO to ensure that we are allowed to open our establishments for one day.