Restaurants reopen with a mouthful of caution, footfall low at Delhi malls Hour-long waits to board a Metro
All shops in malls are now allowed to open from 10am to 8pm, while restaurants can open their doors for dine-in services, but restricted to 50% seating capacity
Several people stepped out cautiously for outings at malls and restaurants across the city as dine-in services reopened after nearly two months on Monday.
As part of the unlock process, all shops in malls were allowed to run from 10am to 8pm from Monday. Restaurants, too, were also allowed to open their doors for dine-in patrons, restricted to 50% seating capacity to ensure physical distancing, while salons and barber shops also catered to customers from Monday.
While eateries at some of the popular malls in Saket and Vasant Kunj saw people eating out, footfall at other places remained thin. The Ansal Plaza mall at Andrews Ganj, for instance, wore a largely deserted look with only a handful of people visiting the premises for shopping.
Among the visitors at Select Citywalk mall in Saket were
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Pulkit Sehgal (31), a businessman, who had stepped out with his wife and toddler “for lunch after a long time”. “I decided to step out for an outing since malls are reopening fully for the first time. This also happens to be the first mall outing with my 19-month-old child,” said Sehgal. “We have started going out since we recovered from Covid a few months ago. We are banking on antibodies and have also received the first dose of the vaccine,” said Sehgal.
Unnati Joshi (28), another visitor at Select Citywalk, said that she had came to the mall for a “long-pending lunch outing with family”.
“After months of staying inside, we felt the need to get a breather. We are following the SOPS and Covid-appropriate behaviour,” said Joshi.
Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, while announcing the eased curbs, said the outbreak in Delhi was largely in control but the government will continue to observe the trends in the coming weeks.
“If cases continue to keep going further down, all restrictions can be scaled down in a phased manner in the coming days. However, if cases go up, we may have to impose restrictions again. I urge everyone to strictly adhere to regulations and Covid19-appropriate behaviour,” he said at a digital press briefing.
Ajay Upadhyaya, the manager of Sattvik restaurant at Select Citywalk, said the restaurant saw a good crowd on Monday.
“We got a good response. Until last week, we were offering only takeaway services. It’s good to see people back. If the government expands the timings, our business will bounce back to normal within a month,” said Upadhyaya.
Sandeep Tanwar, general manager-operations at Andrea’s Eatery, said that the restaurant had seen nearly 50% occupancy on Monday, adding that he expected it to increase with the gradual reopening.
“I think a slow and steady approach to reopening will work. We need to prioritise safety as well,” said Tanwar.
Besides restaurants, there were many others who stepped out for retail therapy. Megha Kapoor (51), said she she had come to buy essentials.
“Compared to pre-lockdown months, the malls are largely deserted. I have been going out only to buy important things, not for recreation. It’s too early for that,” said Kapoor.
Shopkeepers at malls said that while the crowd was good for the first day of reopening, it might take some time for business to bounce back.
“While people have started returning, the footfall isn’t significant and it might take a while for it to return to normal. We can only wait and watch as there is uncertainty. Last time, we were hoping for business to bounce back but before that could happen, lockdown was imposed again,” said a vendor of a gadget kiosk, who did not wish to be named.
Gajendra, the manager of a food kiosk, said a majority of business was taking place through online orders now as “people are still stepping out cautiously“.
Not all restaurants across the city reopened on Monday as they were making changes to adhere to new guidelines. SN Kaushal, senior manager of Kwality restaurant at Connaught Place, said that the restaurant had been shut for the past two months and would reopen in two-three days. “We are undertaking cleaning and sanitisation until then, besides ensuring that our staff members get vaccinated before they come back,” said Kaushal.
While people have started returning, the footfall isn’t significant and it might take a while to return to normal.
Commuters thronged Metro stations, resulting in long, serpentine queues outside, as a majority of activities reopened in Delhi on Monday.
With a 50% cap on seating, the waiting time at many stations across the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s (DMRC) network increased to 50 minutes during rush hour, officials said, attributing the delay to strict adherence to guidelines issued by the Delhi government.
“DMRC is taking all necessary measures to ensure that the guidelines in place for the operation of Metro services is stringently followed. Flying squads are travelling across the system to counsel and, if necessary, penalise passengers who are not following Covid guidelines,” said Anuj Dayal, executive director (corporate communications), Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).
“Standing passengers are also being de-boarded in accordance with the rules. Stations are being temporarily
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closed or entry is being regulated as well. These are attempts to regulate and control the flow of passengers for their safe travel,” he added.
While distancing was maintained inside stations and trains, it led to long queues outside stations. In some stations around Dwarka, Kashmere Gate, Rajiv Chowk, Qutub Minar and GTB Nagar, the queues continued for a few kilometres during the peak rush hours in the morning and in the evening.
According to DMRC’S official Twitter handle on Monday morning, the waiting time at the Dwarka Mor and Nawada stations on the Blue Line, connecting Dwarka Sector 21 and Noida Electronic City, was around 50 minutes.
At least nine stations, including Dwarka Mor, Uttam Nagar East, Janakpuri East, Dwarka, Karol Bagh, Brigadier Hoshiar Singh, Govindpuri, Badarpur and Lajpat Nagar, were also closed intermittently to ensure that there was no crowding inside the network.
These stations were shut for between 10 to 20 minutes.