Markets closed at 8 pm but “8 pm” available till 11

VIJAY UPADHYAY

AGRA. Besides being known worldwide for the Taj Mahal, the tourist town of Agra is also known for its ancient “bazaars” as is most aptly depicted by Habib Tanvir’s famous play “Agra Bazaar”. But the markets of this town are coping up with a strange problem these days. As the clock strikes 5 minutes to 8 in the evening, the city plunges into a complete blackout with the power being shutdown all over the city in a single instant forcing a citywide market closure by 8 pm.

This may sound odd but it is a part of the UP government’s “innovative” way of saving electricity in the entire state by making the markets down shutters by 8 in the evening. Though the state government claims to save more than 400 megawatts of electricity every day from this shutdown, the shockwaves of this “fatwa” are already being felt across Uttar Pradesh.

Rajiv Gupta, President, National Chamber for Industries & Commerce, UP said that at a time when the concept of night bazaars is being introduced in metro cities like Delhi and Hyderabad to improve their economy, the UP government was bent upon destroying the state’s markets by making them shut down at the peak hours of their business. He said that Agra, due to its “special status” owing to the Supreme Court orders to prevent pollution, is supposed to be free from power-cuts but this town too was facing the same problem with power being shutdown at exactly 8 pm. Though the power comes back after barely a couple of minutes, this “signal” was enough to warn the shopkeepers to shut down their shops.

He said that when the sweltering summer heat was preventing the buyers from venturing into the markets during daytime, the shopkeepers had to face a frantic rush of buyers during two hours after sundown and before the market can gather pace, it was already time for the daily “blackout”.

According to Mr. Gupta, in the past fifteen days before the monsoon reached UP, the state’s markets had already lost business in tunes of several hundred crores and now, with the rains hitting most of the state, there was little hope for the market to be revived soon. If this tremendous loss was justified to save a few hundred megawatts of electricity, it was hard to tell.

Agra District Magistrate Sanjay Prasad said that he had noticed the problems being faced by the tourism-centric markets of Agra like Sadar Bazar and the markets adjoining the monuments and the district administration was contemplating on recommending to the state government to allow selected markets of Agra to remain open past 8 p.m. for the benefit of tourism in the town.

According to Mr. Virendra Yadav, Dy. Labour Commissioner Agra, the labour department had fined 100 shops so far for remaining open for business after the stipulated time and the restriction was to remain effective till further notice.

But good news for the connoisseurs of alcohol! There may be a restriction on the opening of commercial establishments after 8 p.m. but the liquor stores of the state are free to sell “8 PM” till 11 in the night.

A survey of the Agra markets on Wednesday night revealed that though the markets were being forcibly closed by the department of labor in accordance to a Government ruling dating back to 1976, an era at least two decades before the development of a free market economy in India, the liquor shops & bars of the city were allowed to remain open till 11 in the night.

Mahendra Prasad, the District Excise Officer of Agra said that the liquor shops, bars & other establishments selling liquor in the state were specially exempted from the 8 pm closure rule and they were free to sell liquor in the city from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.

So next time, if you are thinking of shopping for Shoes or “Petha” in Agra, make sure you make it to the market before 8 p.m. because after this time, you’ll be able to buy “8 PM” and other brands of liquor in the 95 shops & 70 bars of the town, but not shoes and neither Petha.

(UNITED NEWS NETWORK)
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