New Delhi, Feb 21 (PTI) An association of traders at Connaught Place has written to Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, requesting him to allow shops to remain open till 10 pm in view of the improving COVID-19 situation in the national capital.

This is the second letter to Baijal written by the New Delhi Traders Association (NDTA). It cited huge financial losses as a cause of concern for traders.

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"We request you to extend the closing timings of shops in Delhi to 10 pm on the same line as that of restaurants. In UP and Haryana, night curfew and all restrictions have been removed but in Delhi timings for closing shops is same at 8 pm, which is causing huge financial losses to shop owners," NDTA wrote to the LG.

"Since Covid positivity rate in Delhi has reduced drastically and is continuously reducing every day, we once again request you to extend closing timing of shops from 8 pm to 10 pm on the same line as closing timing fixed for restaurants," it added.

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The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), in its meeting on February 4, had extended the imposition of night curfew in the national capital but slashed its duration by an hour -- from 11 pm to 5 am.

Due to the night curfew, shops selling non-essential items are only allowed to operate till 8 pm.

The DDMA had also allowed the reopening of schools for classes 9 to 12 from February 7 and for students of nursery to Class 8 from February 14.

Further, it had permitted all government and private offices to function at 100 per cent capacity. Gyms were also allowed to reopen with certain restrictions.

However, several restrictions like allowing only one weekly market in a municipal zone, no standing passengers in buses and Metro trains and a 50 per cent cap on seating capacity in restaurants, bars and cinemas remain, even though there has been a marked decline in COVID-19 cases in Delhi.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)