Closed, but many salons operate in Chennai – Times of India

Chennai News

CHENNAI: A salon owner testing positive for Covid-19 has laid bare an open secret on the city roads during the lockdown: Many such shops are kept open, sometimes behind closed shutters, flouting the government-imposed rules.
A senior corporation official told TOI several such shops were sealed on Monday and a strong surveillance mounted. However, he declined to give details on the number of shops and their locations. Salons are strictly barred from opening. However, residents who have not had a haircut for more than a month, are growing restless. Some salons, armed with a ‘letter’ from the city police allowing them to open from 7am to 9am, ran their business. This has been stopped now.
Many residents know of several such shops and how they work. V Gopalakrishnan, an RTI activist, said he was aware of three shops in and around MGR Nagar with one of them, on KK Salai, asking customers to distance themselves from each other on the road, until the patrons inside are attended to. “The shutters are kept down,” Gopalakrishnan said. The second is on Alagiri Street and the third on Thanthai Periyar Street, he said.
Anna Nagar resident V Sandhya said the security guard at her building went for a haircut in the area three weeks ago during the lockdown. David Manohar of Chromepet said there were two rival associations for such salons. “While one has complied, members of the other haven’t.”
V Rama Rao of Nanganallur said a barber with a shop on Medavakkam Main Road did haircuts for a few residents at home. “He charged ₹200 each.” Told about the Valasaravakkam case, Rama Rao cautioned other residents against such a practice.

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Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/closed-but-many-salons-operate-in-chennai/articleshow/75419033.cms