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The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra is facing it’s biggest challenge amid the pandemic. With COVID-19 cases on the rise once again in Mumbai, Pune and other cities and districts of the state, Thackeray has warned and hinted at another lockdown several times over the last few days.
While the Shiv Sena’s allies in the state, the NCP and the Congress, have publicly voiced their disagreement to a second blanket lockdown, strategies are being devised by the state government to find a middle ground.
The Quint spoke to a few organisations to gauge their views on a possible lockdown by the state government. Most of them are not in favour of it.
Adarsh Shetty, former chief of hotel establishment body ‘Aahaar’, said that the hotels and restaurants industry will not be able to bear the brunt of another lockdown, with many still grappling with the damages of last year’s lockdown
“There are approximately 2.5 lakh hotels across the state registered with us. During the lockdown, each hotel faced losses of approximately Rs 7.5-8 lakh per month and upto Rs 1 crore per year. Moreover, the lease/rent expenses, electricity and salaries of the employees also need to be paid,” Shetty said, adding that another lockdown will be ‘fatal’ for the industry.
The association has approximately 3.5 lakh small traders registered with it, who earn Rs 5,000-10,000 daily. However, since the lockdown, their incomes have reduced to less than half.
With over 15 lakh rickshaw drivers across Maharashtra and over 30,000 cab drivers in Mumbai alone, Shashank Rao of the Maharashtra Rickshaw-Taxi Association said that the first lockdown hit the public transport industry so hard, that nearly 25 percent of the registered rickshaws have been confiscated by banks due to non payment of loan installments.
The MVA government now walks a tight rope. While the debate over the pros and cons of lockdown continue, the Thackeray government will have to come up with an effective solution – to curb the spread of COVID with minimum loss of resources to the common man.
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