Serial blasts bring biz to standstill

Ahmedabad

Aug 4, 2008

The recent bomb blasts in the country followed by threatening e-mails
declaring more to come have left everyone in a fix. The past few days have seen
top Indian cities becoming targets of the terrorist attacks, with Bengaluru
witnessing nine serial bomb blasts on July 25 and 16 explosions in Ahmedabad the
following day. These outrageous incidents have not only impinged the normal life
of the people but also hit hard the SMB and retail businesses of these cities.

Most shops remained closed for a few days, owning to police declaring high
alert in various cities that toped the hit list of terrorists. However, people
are still not moving out of their homes, which has adversely impacted retail
business revenues by a noticeable percentage.

Moreover, apart from the number of walk-in customers, which has dipped down
considerably, the strict transport and other vehicle checking by the police has
also upset the entire delivery cycle from the dealers' end.

Vivek Goenka of Damson Technology, Ahmedabad informed that the business has
been affect to a great extent as people from surrounding places are afraid of
coming to the city and transport has also got stuck because of the tight police
checking. “Nobody is coming to Ahmedabad. Fear and panic owing to the dreadful
bomb blasts is still there among masses.” He said that people are not willing
to come out of their homes.

Goenka added that the blasts have slowed down the pace of life and it will
take another one week to return to normalcy. “Business deals have been delayed
by 10-15 days, in the urban area. And as people are avoiding crowded places, the
footfall in malls is nil, hence business there has slowed down completely,” he
said.

Mohit Hegde of Bengaluru-based Creative Infotech said only on the day of the
serial blasts did their shop face a minor impact on sales as shops were closed
down early. “But that loss was easily recovered the following day. I don't
think IT retail was impacted majorly due to the blasts. But, the shops in the
malls are still facing a loss of business as the strength and frequency of
footfall has come down there,” informed Hegde.

With 19 more bombs being found in Surat, which is the world's largest
diamond industry, the situation doesn't seem to be coming back to normal for
another few days. Partners in Surat are also facing serious business losses as
shops were closed down for three to four days due to fear of more blasts. Paresh
Babaria of Jupiter Automation, Surat said that the 19 bombs found by the police
in the city have created fear in the minds of people and everybody is avoiding
coming out of their home. “As shops were closed for three to four days in the
city, our businesses have been hampered by five to 10 percent,” he informed.

Read full report in The DQ Week, Aug 4-10 issue