JOIN USA bustling crowd on the road, restaurants and shops packed with people and a frequent movement of cars.
On Thursday, the first day of New Year, Church Street, one of the favourite party spots in the City, looked full of life just four days after a low intensity blast.
In the days following the blast, the road wore an almost deserted look and was devoid of much activity. Shops reported a decline in footfalls.
Business has now picked up in a number of establishments around the blast site.
Aravindakshan, manager of Coconut Grove, the restaurant outside of which the blast occurred, said the business has almost returned to normal.
“December 31 was not so good for us. Although business picked up towards the evening. Today we are getting our usual number of customers. We are back in business,” he said.
The number of people visiting Blossoms book store had dipped to 25 to 30 persons after the blast.
“Today we have already seen as many as 150 to 200 customers coming in. This is our regular count on any given day,” said Mayi Gowda, owner of the book store.
Flop show
It’s no different story at Amoeba, the gaming zone right in front of Coconut Grove.
“December 31 was a real flop show for us. The business is slowly picking up and hopefully in a few days’ time, it will be the same as before,” said the general manager of Amoeba.
Mohan Kumar, an IT professional who was in one of the stores in the area, said it was a good sign that the street had come back to life after a brief lull. “Despite the blast, I would have come here at any given point. There is no need to fear,” he said.