Traders defy containment zone regulations in Kozhikode

It is a matter of survival, says Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samiti

A section of the merchants owing allegiance to the Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samiti (KVVES) on Monday opened their shops in many of the containment zones in Kozhikode district as a token of their protest against the “unjust” regulations in the name of the pandemic threat. The majority of those who defied rules were small-scale traders from villages who are going through serious financial crisis. They also alleged that the curbs were targeting only the merchants’ community and that it was tough for them to cooperate with it any more. “Traders opened their shops in all the restricted places as informed by the Samiti earlier. It was not part of any open violation of rules but a move for their own survival,” said KVVES State secretary K. Sethumadhavan.