Textile shop’s throwaway offer draws mad rush in Salem, sealed

The showroom attracted huge crowds on its inauguration day after renovation as it had announced a huge offer sale.

Thousands flocked to the shop as soon as it opened in the morning resulting in chaos in Ranipettai area. The crowd grew larger and spilled over on the road causing traffic hurdles. However, within two hours, a team led by Attur Municipality Commissioner N Sri Devi sealed the shop. “The showroom was slapped with a penalty once before for a similar COVID-19 violation. Now, it has been sealed as the crowd was very high and offence was repeated. Only the Collector will decide on the duration of sealing. We have taken up a drive against commercial establishments flouting COVID-19 protocols,” said the Commissioner of Attur Municipality.

The sealing of the textile showroom comes days after a popular textile showroom in T Nagar in Chennai was sealed on Tuesday for flouting social distancing norms.

The shop had announced a clearance sale attracting huge crowds and the video of the huge gathering went viral in social media. The shop had announced sale of sarees for just Rs 23, shirts and ‘veshti’ for Rs 20 as part of its inaugural offer.

Meanwhile, the Coimbatore Corporation has issued standard operating procedures for showrooms in the commercial hubs to prevent spread of COVID-19. “The shops should provide hand sanitizers, maintain queues with social distancing and ensure customers and staff wear masks. Crowding should be avoided inside the shops and announcements on COVID-19 protocols should be made through speakers,” said P Kumaravel Pandian, Commissioner, Coimbatore Corporation in a meeting with representatives of textile showrooms and commercial establishments in the district on Friday.