Traders and merchants in Ernakulam organised a protest on Tuesday, demanding to withdraw the COVID-19 restrictions on the Broadway Market in Kochi and open it completely. The market area was excluded from the containment zone 45 days ago, and although the market was allowed to open on July 21, the police have closed the small roads connecting the Broadway Market.
As a result, the merchants claim that they have very few customers and that the businesses are running in a loss due to the restrictions by the district administration. Barricades placed at the main entrances, they said, were causing doubts among customers, whether the area was still a containment zone. The merchants claimed that all 200 traders in the area tested negative for coronavirus and yet the restrictions prevailed.
The Congress Member of Parliament (MP) from Ernakulam, Hibi Eden, inaugurated the protest on Monday. The protesters held a 'poverty protest' by sitting on the market road with empty plantain leaves, showing that they are on the brink of poverty.
"We cooperated with the district administration a lot when the lockdown was announced. Now, we are the most troubled. No COVID-19 cases have been reported from this area. A death was reported in the market area on TD Road, yet the shops there are fully functioning. We are facing a huge loss," Sagir, a representative of the Shop Owners' Association, told the media.
They are demanding to open the roads connecting the market as well as to remove the barricades placed at the main entrances. Traders claimed that the barricades are scaring the customers and dissuading them from visiting the market after reaching the entrance.
They alleged that authorities are misleading the public.
More than 2,500 COVID-19 patients are under treatment in Ernakulam district. There are about 75 containment zones in the district. Kerala has crossed 89,000 COVID-19 cases, with 327 deaths reported so far.