India News | Unlock: Maha Govt Extends Closure Time of Shops by Two Hours

Mumbai, Jul 7 (PTI) Further relaxing the lockdown restrictions, the Maharashtra government on Tuesday decided to allow markets and shops to remain open for additional two hours from July 9.

Markets and shops can now remain open from 9 am to 7 pm, an extension of two hours from the existing closing deadline of 5 pm, in non-containment zones.

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Issuing a notification to this effect, the government said it aims to control or reduce crowding.

In the municipal corporations in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Pune, Solapur, Aurangabad, Malegaon, Nashik, Dhule, Jalgaon, Akola, Amravati and Nagpur, markets have been permitted to remain open on all seven days of the week, it said.

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However, shops in these areas will function on alternate days.

"Now in further relaxation with an objective to control/reduce crowding, the markets/shops will be permitted to open for 2 additional hours and can function from 9 am to 7 pm," it stated.

In the rest of the state, all markets/shops will be permitted to remain open from 9 am to 7 pm on all seven days of the week beginning July 9.

"If any crowding or failure of social distancing norms is seen, then the authorities will immediately close down such markets/shops, the notification reads.

A day earlier the state government had allowed hotels and other entities providing accommodation services outside containment zones to reopen at 33 per cent of their capacity from July 8.

(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)