Major markets near blast site lost bustle, footfall highly affected

A day after the Red Fort blast, major markets near the incident site lost bustle, with customer footfall being significantly low

A day after the Red Fort blast that killed at least 10 and left at least 20 injured, major markets in the area such as Chandni Chowk, Chawri Bazaar, and Sadar Bazaar, lost their bustle. While most shops opened at usual timings on Tuesday, the footfall remained significantly low.

Shops seen closed as security officials carry out investigation on the spot where an alleged blast took place in a car yesterday outside Red Fort in Delhi, on Tuesday. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

Shop owners said they were trying to instil confidence among the buyers but the anxiousness in the aftermath looms in the markets and is likely to take a toll on the businesses despite it being the wedding season.

On a usual day, the road in front of the Red Fort would be occupied with street vendors, hawkers and retail buyers along with vehicles crowding the area. Nearly a kilometre from the explosion site, the mini markets in Chandni Chowk like Maliwara market, Dariba Kalan and Kinari market wore full display of products but sellers lacked their usual glee.

“I open my shop around 10am everyday and earn a sale of around ₹2,000- ₹3,000 within a few hours,” said Jageshwar Paswan, a popular kachori seller. “It’s been a few hours, I have hardly sold 6-7 plates,” Paswan added.

Sellers said they were anxious whether the markets would even remain open the next day. “The explosion was so bad that we didn’t think shops would open. We are in a wholesale market, our stock comes on a daily basis, so we could not afford to shut our shops,” Rajendra Gupta, president of the Gotajari Traders Association of the Kinari Market, said. “It’s the wedding season so people will come, but only those who have necessity are likely to turn up,” Gupta added.

“Yesterday, two of my clients had come from Haryana’s Ballabgarh and Kamla Nagar. I told them it’s not safe and they should go back,” Vinod Gupta, vice president of Dariba Traders Association, said. “Since morning I have received multiple calls from people asking whether the shop is open or not and if it is safe to come. I told them there’s no danger but this entire week is likely to be slow for us.”

The situation, officials said, is likely to stay the same for the next few days.

Moreover, the majority of the customers who turned up at these markets were from other states, who were already in the city for shopping.

“We went to Jammu and Kashmir and now are heading back home to Hyderabad. Our flight is in the evening so we thought of exploring Delhi a bit,” Ravi Kumar, who came to the market along with his wife, said.

Another buyer who travelled all the way from Agra said he came because he had already booked the tickets.

While the shops remained open, everyone talked of the incident. While many were grateful they were not a victim of the blast, others claimed lack of security and mismanagement for the impact.

But it’s not just the sellers who felt their pockets being pinched, rickshaw and auto drivers faced losses too.

“In 4-5 hours, I normally earned around ₹400-500. Presently, I have only ₹20 in my pocket,” said Dilip Kumar, a rickshaw driver in the market.

Meanwhile, outer roads of these markets saw heavy security deployment and the inner lanes had few police personnel posted.