Salons, gyms may open in Chandigarh soon

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, May 25

The UT Administration may allow salons, barber shops, beauty parlours and gyms to open soon.

The Mohali and Panchkula Administrations have already allowed the opening of salons with a set of guidelines to take safety measures against coronavirus.

UT Adviser Manoj Parida said standard operating procedures (SOPs) for opening of salons, gyms, etc., were under examination and these could be issued around Friday.

Sources said the Administration would allow these outlets to open with complete safety measures. Disinfection and sanitisation after each service could be made mandatory. Clients and staff would be asked to wear masks.

The sources said these shops would be allowed to open only outside the containment zones. Hand sanitisers would be made available at the entry. Apart from face mask, employees would be required to wear hand gloves and apron.

The sources said prior appointment or token system could be adopted to stagger client entry. Persons with symptoms of fever and cough would not be allowed to enter the shop, said the sources.

Meanwhile, the Tricity Gym Owners’ Association (TGOA) has demanded reopening of gyms as the industry was ‘near collapse’ due to the lockdown for the past over two months.

In a letter to the UT Adviser and Deputy Commissioners of Mohali and Panchkula, Sanjeev Kumar, president, TGOA, said: “We were hoping for some relaxations under the lockdown 4.0 as the same has been extended to other industries such as salons, which are also ‘client interaction’-based industries like fitness centres. However, the government has still not called for reopening our industry, which has not only created an uncertain future for the centres but also for about 3,000 employees and their families. There has been no income of employees (trainers, sales staff, spotters, housekeeping, etc.) for the past about 2 months of lockdown.”

The negative fallout of the lockdown on gyms has been colossal. The industry is dying and if it keeps going like this for another fortnight, many centres will not be in a position to reopen due to heavy financial liabilities. The main component of expenses is the astronomical rental amounts. Gyms need much more area than other businesses and this makes rentals go through the roof, he said.