Quietly, work continues in the market

The usually crowded dusty streets filled with a cacophony of sounds from different shops clubbed with honking of vehicles, not to mention men shouting over the noise of the machines were all missing.

The usually crowded dusty streets filled with a cacophony of sounds from different shops clubbed with honking of vehicles, not to mention men shouting over the noise of the machines were all missing.

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Two days after a radioactive substance, Cobalt 60, was found in a shop in D block of Mayapuri’s junk market, the mood in the market, especially D 2 block, remained sombre with lesser shops open than usual for a working day.

Labourers worked amidst tons of neatly piled scrap — iron pipes, torn vehicles parts, discarded bodies of ACs, etc.

“This incident is a first of its kind since the market started in 1975. Even the police weren’t sure of what to do,” said Jagdish Raj Bhutania, a scrap dealer from D1 block.

Are they not afraid? “No we are not afraid ourselves. Our families members are more worried about us,” Bhutania added.

Som Prakash (62), who runs a tea stall there, said, “If more people succumb to radiation, then it can cause real panic.”