SHILLONG: The trading circles split on Tuesday over re-opening of Iewduh with some traders stressing on livelihood while others raising health concerns.
Member of Greater Iewduh Welfare Association and also member of Hynniewtrep Nongiew Association, Victoria Mary Marwein, was not in favour of reopening Iewduh citing health issues.
“If shopkeepers open their shops, they do so at their own risk. Once Iewduh reopens, there will be a huge rush. They should be responsible for their own actions,” she warned.
On the other hand, a shopkeeper, Wanbor Khonglah, wants Iewduh to reopen as it will provide livelihood to a large number of people who have pegged away for survival for the last three months.“There has been three months of lockdown. How do we pay our employees? They are struggling. Then there are students, about thousands of them, who work as coolies in the morning and go to their place of study later,” he said.
Resenting the unfairness as shops in upscale hubs of Khyndai Lad were opened, he bluntly stated, “There is no corona incident anywhere”.
Khonglad claimed that Iewduh contributes about 60 per cent of the trade in the state, 40 per cent contributions by retail trade.
It has maximum generation of GST, professional tax and income tax from the market.
“It is a hypothetical to say that once Iewduh opens, it will give rise to cases. It is only in the minds of the government,” he said. With the closing down of Iewduh in a bid to prevent COVID-19 spread, some of vegetable traders have shifted to other places while they still have the unique attachment to Iewduh.
