JOIN USWhen asked if the merchants would like to move out, most refused.
“What is the point in shifting base? Are other business locations safer,” asked Raju Solanki, owner of a jewellery shop – set up 60 years ago – that is barely 200 metres from the blast site.
Several merchants expressed deep concern as businesses will be hit owing to the temporary closing down of more than 10,000 shops, including tiny diamond polishing units, post blast.
“My shop is hardly half-a-minute away from the spot of the blast and now I will have to keep it closed as the entire lane has been cordoned off,” Mohanlal Seth said.
“Moreover, friends and relative are pressurising me to shift my business elsewhere. But it is not as easy. There is no assurance of safety elsewhere either,” he added. Zaveri Bazar was first targeted on March 12, 1993, when 13 serial blasts across the city killed 257 people and injured over 700 others.
The second strike was on Aug 25, 2003 when twin blasts – one at the Gateway of India and the other at Zaveri Bazar – killed 54 people and injured 244.
The congested Zaveri Bazar has around 50,000 small and big shops and small diamond polishing units, including bullion market, in its narrow, labyrinthine lanes spread across 10 km. Kumar Jain, vice president of the Mumbai Jewellers’ Association, also expressed concern over the loss in the business that might follow.