Shimla Residents Can Eat at Restaurants from Friday, Hotels to Remain Shut

People in Himachal's Shimla will be able to eat at restaurants, dhabas and other eateries from Friday in the wake of the state government issuing a standard operating procedure allowing it.

However, according to a hoteliers' body, hotels will remain shut till the state government allows tourists from outside.

A senior official said other districts are likely to follow it after the government issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) in this regard on Tuesday.

In Shimla, District Magistrate Amit Kashyap issued the order on Thursday evening.

In the order, the Shimla DM allowed restaurants, dhabas and other eateries to operate at 60 per cent of their seating capacity and in accordance with the SOP issued by the state Department of Tourism.

The Shimla DM also stated that all hotels in the district can open for non-tourism purposes such as housing of persons visiting the state for official and business purposes only and Himachal residents.

However, hoteliers in Shimla and other districts of the state are not ready to open their hotels as of now, Shimla Hotel and Restaurant Association (SHRA) president Sanjay Sood said.

Sood said, 'The hotels will be opened as and when the state government will feel it safe to allow tourists from other states as local people do not stay in hotels; only tourists from other states stay.

However, restaurants, dhabas and other eateries in Shimla district will start serving food and other eatables from Friday onwards by adopting precautions, including social distancing, to check the spread of COVID-19, he added.

The order has come after the DM held a meeting with representatives of about 50 restaurants, dhabas and other eateries.

Sood said representatives of restaurants, dhabas and other eateries expressed their willingness to start serving food and other eating items by adhering to the guidelines being issued by the DM.

They are ready to ensure thermal scanning of visitors, a facility to wash hands with soaps and use only 60 per cent of their seating capacity, he added.

Besides, they were also directed to provide a menu to customers on their mobile phones through WhatsApp messages, if they provide their numbers, otherwise, the menu has to be sanitised every time a customer receives it manually, he added.

Waiters and cooks will wear gloves, masks, caps.

Similarly, raw vegetables will have to be sanitised with a chemical, Sood added.