Ahmedabad: AMC to continue checking tea stalls, seal 32 that violated social distancing

AHMEDABAD: The AMC has decided to close down tea stalls in the city. The officials have decided to close down all the tea stalls in the city after the official realized that no social distancing was being followed and even the customers were not wearing the masks.
AMC officials said that in 48 wards of the city officials especially the Joint Enforcement Teams and the teams of the solid waste department had carried out checks at the shops, malls among others.The AMC has now decided to target these tea stalls.
The officials said during the checking it was noticed that those coming to tea stalls were coming in groups of three to four and were hanging out for hours together and were sitting without the mask. When they were asked, they just gave the excuse that they were having cigarette or drinking tea.
The officers said in some of the cases it was noticed that those sitting in groups were even sharing cigarettes with each other. Harshad Solanki the director of Solid waste department said on Wednesday as we began checking the tea stalls and sealing them for not maintaining social distancing, the small type stalls and the road side vendors immediately down their shutters and left the shops. Even the big stalls closed down their shops. It was clear that about 25 to 30 people hang out with tea cups and stand there for nearly 30 to 40 minutes. These are prone to infections.
Ashok Punjabi the president of the Larri galla Ladat Samiti said, “After getting the news I have called a meeting of all the tea stalls vendors and will ask them to keep it closed for some time for interest of the city. We cannot raise a hue and cry as people were are not following protocols. The closure is a issue of their livelihood but nothing can be done when it comes to the fight against coronavirus.”