Malls and restaurants in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad have expressed dismay over the new guidelines issued by the civic bodies, ordering malls to remain shut while allowing dine-in facility at restaurants only till 4pm.
The new restrictions, which will come into force from Monday, will be detrimental for the survival of the restaurant industry that had barely got back on its feet 10 days back following weeks of lockdown-like curbs, industry insiders said.
The 4pm deadline would mean a drastic dip in the business, said Ganesh Shetty, president of Pune Hoteliers’ Association.
“Such restrictions are only being announced in Pune while other cities such as Delhi have allowed normal operations,” he added.
The hospitality industry, Shetty said, has been hit the hardest during the pandemic. On an average, Pune’s 3,000-odd restaurants report business of Rs 3-4 crore per day but the new restrictions would mean their earning would be just 10-15 per cent of their regular income, he added. “Around 20 per cent of the restaurants would be closed down due to the new restrictions,” he said.
Surjit Singh Rajpurohit, chief operating officer of Amanora Mall, said the present restrictions come even as the malls were only gearing up to open and function in full capacity. “We have been adhering to all the norms and had put in crowd-control measures.”
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