When Deccan Herald spoke to a few of the shopkeepers, all they had to say was- the protests have snatched business, but we do support them as it’s for a good cause.
Gandhi Square located in the heart of the city attracts rural folk in hordes with shops like garments, stationery, utensils, beverages, automobiles, hotels among others. The peak hour is from 10 am to 5 pm. Now, the peak hour is affected in a way by the agitations, bemoan the traders.
In the normal days, the commercial area bustles with crowd from 12 noon onwards with tourists too thronging the place. Rahul who has a garment shop in the corner said for the first time in the recent past such a situation has arose, where we are waiting for the customers. Vasudevamurthy, who also owns a garment shop and is in the business for over four decades echoed similarly. “We have accepted it as it’s for the good of nation”, Vasudevamurthy said.
Kushal Jain, who runs automobile spare parts shop said- the protests have added to noise pollution, projecting the wrong picture of otherwise tourist friendly city. Though the venue of protest was shifted from K R Circle to Gandhi Square, it didn’t have any impact on business.
Now, the continuous protests have added to the pain. There are nearly 80 to 100 shops comprising big and small in Gandhi Square alone, leave aside those in the surroundings. Traffic restrictions during the protest, by erecting barricades on Old Bank Road and near Doddagadiyara is shooing the people away, the traders allege.
