The trading community in Fancy Bazar on Saturday expressed apprehension of loss in business due to the blast a few hundred metres away, at a time when shoppers were thronging this commercial hub of the city just before the Durga Puja.
A blast, the nature of which is yet to be ascertained, shook the entire area just before noon.
The blast occurred near Sukreswar Ghat, around 400 metres from the busy commercial hub of the city which was teeming with Puja shoppers at the weekend. Four people were injured.
After the blast shook the area, shoppers started scrambling home, leaving their shopping unfinished as family members started calling them up on the phone to stay away from Fancy Bazar.
The owner of a popular ladies fashion store, Annu’s, Vijay Kumar, told The Telegraph, “Sales were picking up just before the start of Puja. I had ordered several consignments by flight due to heavy demand. We bring our consignments of dresses by road transport which cost Rs 15 to Rs 20 per kg. I ordered our last consignments by air which cost Rs 120 per kg. Now I fear the goods might not get sold.”
Kumar said that 75 per cent of the customers left his shop immediately after the blast, without buying anything.
“We were banking on today and tomorrow to see an escalation in business but the scenario looks very bleak now. Moreover, the area had been reeling under a power cut since 10am. Electricity had just returned when the blast took place and the power supply was disrupted again. The blast site is very near the police station, indicating a security lapse. We are not secure,” he added.
Pavement vendors also voiced their fear of heavy losses. The Fancy Bazar area has scores of such vendors selling clothes, imitation jewellery, shoes and other items preferred by people from the lower and middle income group.
A cloth vendor, Ratan, summed up the mood: “We are despondent. We had stocked up on lots of clothes for the Puja season. Sales were quite good till this incident took place.
“We could hear the loud blast and people started panicking. A few customers about to buy some dresses rushed away. We fear facing losses now. All our capital has been invested in buying up fresh stocks and the wholesalers will not take them back.”
Congress leader Bobbeeta Sharma, who visited the injured at Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital in Panbazar, said, “Now is a time of festivity and people come to the area to shop. This incident can impact sales, with businessmen facing losses. People are in a state of panic after the incident.”
The blast occurred at a time when chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal was speaking at an event outside the city about Assam becoming an industrial hub and Guwahati the centre of commercial activity.
An injured person being treated at Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital in Guwahati on Saturday. UB Photos