Traders ignore lockdown calls in parts of Peshawar

Following Covid-19 related SOPs in the provincial metropolis remains a distant dream

PESHAWAR:

Following the Covid-19 related standard operating procedures (SOPs) in the provincial metropolis remain a distant dream despite the fact that the entire country has been gripped by the fourth wave of the pandemic.

Although shops remained closed in Saddar and University Road areas of the city Sunday, traders at the city proper and other parts largely ignored the call for lockdown and kept their shops open without inviting much attention from the quarters concerned.

It is worth noting here that the district administration has already announced a two day complete shutter down in the city on the directives of the Home Department in Peshawar and Abotabad districts.

But despite this, shops remained opened in Karkhano Market, Board Bazaar, Jamrud Road, Circular Road, Kohat Gate, Asia Gate, Jehangirpura, Namak Mandi, Hayatabad Toll Plaza Ring Road, Hashtnagri Phatak, parts of Ring Road, Dalazak Road and other areas of the city including the walled city.

Traders blamed that their businesses had been hit hard due to the smart lockdown and they were barely able to make both ends meet.

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“We have to pay our rents no matter what and we have to keep our shops closed all the time. This has been a permanent problem for the past one year. There is no relief from the government either in the shape of tax cut or anything like it,” said a trader while talking to The Express Tribune.

On the other hand on Saturday 16 people succumbed to Covid-19 in the province including a senior doctor from Abotabad.

This had brought the total number of doctor killed in the pandemic so far to 68. Around 107 frontline health workers have lost their lives in the pandemic.General public is also reluctant to follow SOPs in the busy market places and keep social distancing in the city.

They even don’t bother to wear masks and on Saturday authorities arrested 68 for violating the SOPs in the city.

Provincial Doctors Association (PDA) also hit out at the K-P government and Health Department for its failure to provide proper PPEs to doctors at the hospitals despite the fact that the number of patients was on the rise in the hospital as the Delta Variant is spreading fast.

They also demanded compensation package to the families of deceased doctors and other health workers.