COVID-19 impact: Lockdowns are not helping the state's economy; businesses struggle to function with restrictions

Maharashtra is the worst affected state in India by the coronavirus outbreak. Since the inception of the ongoing global pandemic, PM Narendra Modi announced a nationwide lockdown on March 25. After going through several lockdowns, Unlock-1 was a new phase where economic activities were allowed to function.

In Maharashtra, the Unlock-1 is under the title 'Mission Begin Again', its sole purpose is to slowly revive the state's economy, however, the continuous rise in coronavirus cases has led to another lockdown in different parts of the state. Although this decision might hurt businesses, as it's only been a month since economic activities resumed and to shut down the shops, will severely damage the business process.

On Friday, Maharashtra Government imposed a city-wide lockdown in Pune and the neighbouring towns of Pimpri-Chinchwad. The lockdown will come into place from July 13 and will end on July 23. However, essential services like milk shops, pharmacies, doctor's clinics and emergency services will continue to function.

On the other hand, the Thane Municipal Corporation had already called for a 10-day long lockdown starting from July 2 to July 12, but the surge in cases has forced the authorities to extend the lockdown till July 19. Among other cities, Aurangabad has been under lockdown since July 10 and it will go on till July 19. According to media reports, even regions like Navi Mumbai and Kalyan-Dombivli has gone under lockdown as well.

A garment trader in Mumbai, shared his opinion with Economic Times, he said, "If you hinder people's movement and also impose stringent conditions, asking them not even to step out for groceries, then how can you run a business? Our employees are finding it difficult to come to work, we are already facing losses. There is no point in allowing businesses to start when you are placing such restrictions."

The authorities believe it was important to re-impose lockdown, as the cases were constantly rising in these cities. The purpose is to contain the virus, hence, a lockdown was necessary to restrict people's movements.
 

Edited by:

Khevna Pandit