Festive spirit stays indoors

Shopping hot spots deserted as bandh in midst of festive season keeps shoppers indoors; autos remain scarce

The Shiv Sena-BJP's call for a bandh to protest against Monday's hush-hush removal of the Dadoji Konddeo statue from Lal Mahal seemed to have discouraged the festive season shoppers yesterday.

While most people chose to remain indoors, major shops, malls and multiplexes in the city also remained closed till mid-afternoon. Life came to a virtual standstill in many parts of the city as people, anticipating violence, stepped out only if absolutely necessary.

With New Year's Eve barely three days away, the politicians could not have chosen a worse time to call a bandh. Those shoppers who did decide to step out for some last-minute purchases could not find any stores open for most part of the day.

An MNC employee, Monica M, who was on MG Road with a friend to shop for New Year's Eve, said she was disappointed that she could barely do any shopping despite going around the area for two hours.

"We should not have come here at all. For a long time, we did not even get autorickshaws to come here. None of the shops were open," she said.

Salman Sheikh, owner of Poona Export House, a garment shop, said that only a fifth of the shops in the area had opened by noon.

"I have kept my shop open from 11 am, but there are no shoppers. They should not have called the bandh this time, as this is the peak season for our business. The crowd turnout was worse than it is during off-season," he said.

Those doing odd jobs were affected as well. Prakash Salve, a parking attendant opposite Wonderland shopping centre, complained that the bandh had taken a toll on earnings.

"Usually, we earn Rs 900 a day out of which we give Rs 700 to our contractor," he said. "It is mid-afternoon and I have only earned Rs 100. How will I pay the contractor?"

Malls and multiplexes wore a deserted look as most serious shoppers kept away from them. Wahid Makandar, an employee at Games and More, a gaming station at SGS Mall, said that his stall, which is usually packed with people, saw no more than a handful of customers.

"Even though we opened our stall at 11 am, customers were allowed in the mall only after 2 pm. This means we lost out on the entire morning crowd," said Makandar.

Besides shopping, film shows and local commuting, the bandh also had some effect on those travelling out of the city. Protesters stalled the Mumbai-Pune Expressway for nearly an hour in the afternoon, because of which most buses were running 30 to 45 minutes late.

"There were fewer passengers today," Ayub Tamboli of Neeta A-1 Travels said. "Maybe they are scared to travel, as they feared that protesters might hold up the Expressway again. Also, it was difficult getting transport to bus stations."