Sadar Bazar traders again protest against odd-even rule for store opening

The traders of Sadar Bazar Market here on Wednesday staged a protest over the DDMA's odd-even arrangement for opening of shops which was imposed due to a surge in Covid cases in the city.

The traders' group had staged a similar protest on Tuesday as well pressing the same demands.

This time, the traders came out on the streets of Qutub Road Chowk by beating plates as a mark of protest against the odd-even scheme and wore black armbands and displayed placards saying "no odd-even" and "Delhi traders oppose odd-even".

They demanded from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to end the odd-even arrangement and also to put an end to the weekend curfew and allow the entire market to open.

Paramjit Singh Pamma, Vice Chairman of the Federation of Sadar Bazar Traders Association, said it is a matter of "great sadness that due to this decision of government, the traders have come into financial trouble.

"The traders have not been able to cope with the two lockdowns already and with this decision has broken their backs," he said.

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) had in December last year announced odd-even arrangement for markets after cases of Covid and its Omicron variant had started increasing.

On January 4 this year, the DDMA imposed a weekend curfew in the city.

However, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain had last week said that the city might see some relaxations once daily cases go below 15,000.