Fresh Covid curbs in Delhi a 'death warrant' for fitness industry, will hurt shopkeepers: Traders

New Delhi: With the authorities imposing fresh COVID-19 restrictions in Delhi on Tuesday, traders said it will be a "death warrant" for the fitness industry and make a "big dent" in their businesses even as an association of cinema hall operators urged the government to reconsider their call.

Owners of gyms and spas across the city said that the move will prove to be a "death warrant" for the fitness industry which has been grappling for survival ever since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

Representatives of gyms and market associations said the government could have also considered two other indicators as well — the number of fresh coronavirus cases and that of the oxygen beds occupied — before announcing a "yellow" alert.

The Delhi Gym Association, an umbrella body of gyms and fitness centres in the city, condemned the DDMA decision to close gyms under the yellow alert of the GRAP.

"This decision will completely destroy the Delhi fitness industry. All the gym owners were already under the burden of debt due to rent, fixed electrical charges, fixed water charges, etc. but now with this decision we are left with no option but to go bankrupt. This decision has come as a death warrant for gym owners," Chirag Sethi, Vice President, Delhi Gym Association, said. He said that gyms and spas are always the first entity to get closed and always the last to reopen. The association urged the DDMA to reconsider its decision. There are around 5,500 gymnasiums and fitness centres across the national Capital. Sadar Bazar Market Association president Devraj Baweja said that traders were yet to recover from the impact of the lockdown during the second wave of COVID-19 earlier this year.

"Why always shopkeepers are punished when the actual crowd is due to the illegal vendors and lack of proper enforcement. How will the government ensure odd-even operation of stalls of roadside vendors or illegal vendors in any market of the city? Baweja asked. Kamla Nagar Market Association president Nitin Gupta said it is the trader who is punished even for the laxity of authorities.

Meanwhile, multiplex operators have urged the Delhi government to reconsider its decision and allow them to operate cinema halls with certain riders such as the requirement of double vaccination and restricting seating capacity to 50 per cent. According to the Multiplex Association of India (MAI), the Delhi government's decision to shut down cinemas in the city while enforcing the yellow' alert of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) has caused "massive uncertainty" and could lead to "irreparable damage" for the Indian film industry.