Large establishments in Chennai's shopping district asked to down shutters

Chennai: A day after the Tamil Nadu government called for the closure of all educational institutions, theatres, malls, amusement parks, pubs and so on, the Chennai Corporation on Tuesday ordered for large establishments in the bustling shopping area of T Nagar to down their shutters as a way to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

“We have instructed shops - the bigger establishments which have large footfall - to shut down. This is in the interest of public health. Some of these stores have 1000 people working for them in addition to a huge number of people who visit,” the Corporation Commissioner, G Prakash said at a media briefing on Tuesday.

Well-known textile names such as Saravana Stores, Nalli Silks, Kumaran Silks, Pothys, Chennai Silks in addition to popular jewellery brands like GRT, NAC Jewellers, Kalyan Jewellers, Joyalukkas, and so on have large establishments in the area.


Prakash went on to add that while these shops are not classified as 'malls' they attract hordes of shoppers and hence, calling for their closure was a necessary measure to contain the spread of the novel Coronavirus.

“They don't fall under the traditional definition of a mall but the state government told us we can ask establishments to shut down based on the kind of threat it may pose to public health,” he said.