With new norms, shopping malls in Hyderabad to reopen on Monday

Shopping malls are set to reopen in Telangana from June 8, after two months of a nationwide lockdown. The twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, in particular, have started opening hotels, restaurants, temples and malls after the Centre allowed to states relax curbs in order to push economic growth.

Hyderabad:From restricted entry to maintaining social distance, among other protocols, shopping malls in the city are set to reopen from Monday.

According to N Parthasaradhy, Vice-President, GVK One, a shopping mall in the upmarket Banjara Hills, the management is holding discussions with outlets as to how to regulate the crowd and keep necessary personal protection gear for the sales personnel and at the same time give customers shopping experience.

He said the mall will be thrown open for public from June 10 as they feel it is an auspicious day even as he assured everything is in order as per the Standard Operating Protocol (SOP) laid down by the government.

Malls in the city have been closed since the nation-wide lockdown was imposed to contain the spread of coronavirus.

"We have kept single point entry and exit for our staff and retail staff and everybody needs to have an Aarogya Setu App and show that they are safe. If somebody does not have the app they will have to sign a self-declaration form..." Parthasaradhy told.

"Earlier we had four entry points for customers which now we are restricting to two. The 20-person lifts will now be restricted to just six to maintain the physical distance among customers. Marking was done in the mall for social distancing,"he added.

He said wearing a mask is compulsory for everybody to enter the mall where hand sanitisers are provided for customers. He also said the firm suspended the touch-based attendance system for its staff.

Parthasaradhy said movie screens and children play areas will not be open now as per guidelines.

The mall which has 112 outlets including movie screens and food courts had a footfall of 15,000 on weekdays and 25,000 on weekends on an average before the lockdown.

"Every hour we will check the number of people inside the mall and ensure that at any given point of time there is enough space for the customer to move around keeping social distancing norms in mind. Entry and exit of customers will be based on this...to avoid crowding," he further said.

A retail shop operator in the mall said the outlet staff may reduce as the timings of the mall have reduced to one shift.

Sources in Inorbit Mall located at Madhapur, the IT district, said everything is in place for the mall to be open from Monday.

"We will be opening from tomorrow with all the measures laid down by the government. We expect mainly youngsters (24 to 40 years old) to come to the mall based on our survey. We see some serious shoppers to come initially," sources said.

The shopping centre will be open from 11 am to 8 pm only and entry restriction in place so that social distance is maintained at any given point of time. Inorbit Mall which has 150 outlets had footfall of 25,000 on weekdays and on weekends it was 50,000.

Sources in Hyderabad Metro Rail said they are set to open all the four shopping malls along its route on Monday with all necessary precautions in place.

They however, were not sure of the expected footfall as metro rail service in the city is yet to get 'green signal' to operate.

Ahead of opening of shopping malls people who are regulars at the malls said they were keen to visit them.

Shefali, a homemaker, welcomed the opening of shopping malls as she has to do some necessary shopping for her family.

"Due to the lockdown I had been postponing the shopping at malls but finally the shopping malls will be opened from tomorrow and I am keen to visit them as they offer a variety of products under a single roof," she said.

Sharat, an IT employee said though the shopping malls will be open the movie screens located in the malls are yet to open which is bit disappointing.

"We are missing theater experience. And moreover there are restrictions in place at the malls and one cannot spend much time there doing shopping," he said.

However, another IT professional Yuvraj said there is a sense of insecurity to be in crowded places considering the rampant increase of COVID-19 cases in Hyderabad adding "due to prevailing condition I don't prefer to visit as of now".

Sagar and Swapna, both engineering students said they are looking forward to visit shopping malls as they offer variety of clothing.

PTI