New Delhi: Even as more and more of the Capital opens up in the absence of a raging infection rate here albeit with a cautionary approach in the guidelines, gymnasiums, wedding halls and banquets are now preparing to reopen their premises and even though the new guidelines will not make much room for them to recoup their losses of the last few months, most say they are satisfied to just to be reopening for now — even if they can't make profits.
However, apprehensive of a possible third wave of the pandemic hitting the city, Yoga institutes here have said that they would much rather continue their classes online, despite having been allowed to open for physical classes by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority.
The Delhi government on Saturday allowed weddings at banquet, marriage halls and hotels with 50 people in attendance, and reopening of gyms and yoga centres at 50 per cent capacity under the phased unlock process initiated with an improvement in the city's COVID-19 situation.
Neha Vasisht, the founder of Yoga Guru which has several centres across the city, said she is hopeful about starting her classes physically gradually but for now she prefers to operate only at complexes where she can conduct classes in open spaces.
Dhirendra Singh of Navadha Yoga Health Care Institute in Malviya Nagar said, "I am not planning to open the centre for now. There has been heavy losses in business but we have are online yoga sessions."
But gym owners, who have been protesting and seeking for their premises to be reopened for weeks now, on Sunday started sanitising their gymnasiums in preparation to start welcoming limited users from today (Monday).
Chirag Sethi, vice-president of Delhi Gym Association, said the industry has suffered huge losses as gyms were closed for almost eight months in the last year.
"There was no income during this period but still the gym owners had to pay their rent in addition to the fixed electricity and water bills besides helping the staff. This industry has been going through a tough phase.
"The gym owners do not have any financial support and there is hardly any government scheme. These frequent lockdowns have had a negative impact on the industry. Many gyms have already shut and many are contemplating whether they should continue in the industry," Sethi, who owns three gyms in the city, said.
Meanwhile, wedding halls and banquets were happy just to be allowed to reopen for business after months.