Shop owner’s stage demo on Dhaka-Ctg Highway

Staff Reporter :
Local traders of Narayanganj’s Shiddhirganj staged demonstration and formed human chain for the third consecutive day on Tuesday demanding permissions to keep shops open during the lockdown.
More than 200 shop owners and employees took to the street of Dhaka-Chattogram Highway at 11am and blocked Shimrail Mor.
One of the traders named Billa Hossain said, “We are requesting the Prime Minister for allowing us to run the shops following health guidelines.”
After protest and human chain, they himself left the place.
On Monday, traders staged demonstration on the highway protesting the government decision to shut shopping complexes.
Earlier, shopping malls are closed as per the government instruction but shops were seen open in many areas.
Visiting many city areas, the UNB correspondent found shops in lanes and by-lanes open despite the lockdown.
In the wake of the sufferings of commuters, the government on Tuesday decided to allow public transport services to resume operations in city corporation areas from Wednesday during the lockdown.
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader came up with the announcement saying public transport services will operate in Dhaka, Chattogram, Gazipur, Narayanganj, Cumilla, Rajshahi, Khulna, Sylhet, Barishal, Rangpur and Mymensigh city corporation areas between 6am and 6pm.
But they will have to leave half the seats empty, the minister said in a press statement.
Meanwhile, shop owners and employees staged demonstrations in the city’s Mirpur, New Market and Shyamoli areas demanding the government allow them to open their shops for several hours every day during the lockdown.
Bangladesh Batik Manufacturer Employees Association formed a human chain in front of Japan Garden city on Shyamoli Link Road at around 10:00 am demanding the withdrawal of the restriction on opening shops.
They chanted various slogans for saving the garment sector by opening the shops and malls.
The protesters, numbering around 500, brought out a procession and tried to stage a sit-in on the Mirpur Road, but police obstructed them. Later, the procession ended in front of Shampa Market around 12:30 pm.
Hundreds of shop owners and their employees staged a demonstration in the New Market area for the third consecutive day on Tuesday protesting the government’s decision to shut down all shopping malls and markets during the lockdown.
They said it is not a justified move to keep shops, malls and markets shut when offices, factories and the Ekushey Book Fair are open.
The protesters said the government should allow them to run their business maintaining health safety rules.
Besides, small traders and their employees brought out processions in Mirpur-10 and Mirpur-1 areas demanding permission to reopen their shops. They continued their agitation for two hours from 11:00 am.
The traders feared incurring losses like the previous year due to the ongoing lockdown ahead of Ramadan and Eid-ul-Fitr.
Amid the lockdown, Bangladesh saw record-breaking daily Covid-19 fatalities and infections with 66 deaths and 7,213 cases during the last 24 hours till Tuesday morning.
Over 7,000 new Coronavirus cases were recorded for the third consecutive day on Tuesday, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
With the new 66 deaths, the coronavirus fatalities rose to 9,384 while the mortality rate dropped slightly to 1.44 percent as it was 1.45 percent on Monday.
Bangladesh reported its first cases on March 8 last year and confirmed the first death from the virus 10 days later.