Malls were shut in Mumbai on Tuesday a day after the Maharashtra government decided to allow those below 18 years of age who are not vaccinated against Covid-19 to visit shopping malls upon displaying the valid age proof.
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal had given directions that staff of malls would be allowed to enter even if they had one vaccine dose, according to a TOI report. However, the state government in a notification on Monday said all employees including managers and housekeeping staff of malls are mandated to complete 14 days after receiving both the doses, they have decided to shut down malls again.
All shopping malls are allowed to function till 10 pm on all days provided the customers/citizens visiting the malls and all employees, including managers and housekeeping staff, possess the final vaccination certificate of receiving two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine and that 14 days must have elapsed after the second dose, the government order (GO) said.
The state government has already allowed people who are fully vaccinated to visit shopping malls which can remain open till 10 pm on all days.
However, according to the report, suburbs malls like Inorbit and Infiniti at Malad, Growel’s 101 Mall in Kandivali, and R City in Ghatkopar were shut on Tuesday. While the malls were open on the occasion of Independence Day, a representative said, the establishment was opened since they thought partially vaccinated staff would be allowed to work. “However, with the government rule clearly mandating that two doses are needed, the majority of our staff yet needs to be administered the second dose and so we decided to shut down the mall,” an official was quoted as saying.
Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Retailers Association of India (RAI) said the Break the Chain notification issued on Aug 16 needs to be modified “to ensure a balance between saving livelihoods and lives.”
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