As stir grows, mounting losses worry Shaheen Bagh traders
As the sit-in completes a month, traders pegged their losses at ₹100 crore
nNEW DELHI: Sitting inside his 600 square feet garments shop at the Shaheen Bagh market, the 45-year-old owner, who wished to remain anonymous, said he is worried about the financial loss that the ongoing road blockade is causing him. He has to pay off his creditors. But for that, he has to sell the clothes he bought in December. Every morning, right outside his shop, he assembles with the protesters who have blocked the GD Birla Marg and Road 13A, which connects Delhi and Noida, to show solidarity against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
“Deep inside, I wish the protesters vacate the road and we are able to open our shops. I am worried about the losses. Exactly a month ago, we had to down the shutters because of the protest. It does not look like the road blockade is going to end anytime soon,” he said.
The Delhi police have stopped traffic on the road that has prompted commuters to use alternative routes. Not a single shop has opened on the stretch since protests began on December 15. Despite one of the organisers pulling out earlier this month, the protest has only gotten bigger. Police say there are multiple groups who are organising the protest at the site.
The closure also meant that traffic from Faridabad and parts of south Delhi such as Sarita Vihar and Jasola had to take other Noida-delhi routes, such as Mathura Road and DND flyway, leading to traffic jams spilling over to Ashram Chowk, Mathura Road, and parts of Ring Road.
On GD Birla Marg and Road 13A, where around 700 protesters especially elderly women along with children have staged a sit-in protest, there are around 250 shops and stores on both sides of the stretch.
The shops sell items manu
DELHI HIGH COURT ON TUESDAY DISPOSED OF A PLEA SEEKING THE REOPENING OF THE KALINDI KUNJ-SHAHEEN BAGH STRETCH
factured in local factories to items endorsed by brands such as Blackberry, Louis Phillipe, Van Heusen, and Puma.
The monthly rent for an 800 sq feet shop is around₹ 80,000 while the store owners of the bigger shops pay around ₹2 lakh a month.
Traders in Shaheen Bagh pegged their losses due to the ongoing protest at ₹100 crore. Many said daily business at some big stores can be up to ₹ 2-4 lakh every day.
The Delhi police are holding meetings with different groups of organisers, asking them to vacate the road so that traffic can start and business resumes but the talks have failed.
Delhi High Court on Tuesday disposed of a plea seeking the reopening of the Kalindi Kunjshaheen Bagh stretch and asked the police to take action in accordance with the law in a time-bound manner.
The court said that authorities must take a decision keeping in mind the larger public interest and the issue of maintaining law and order situation.
Most shopkeepers Hindustan Times spoke to at Shaeen Bagh said that just days before the protests began they had stocked up for winter.
Asad Sabri, who owns a garments shop, said, “First, let me clarify that we support the protesters. The government must listen and do something. But at the same time, people like us are suffering. We had bought winter clothing in bulk. The peak winter period is gone. The clothes we bought in bulk are lying unsold in the shops. We do not know what the future has in stock for us.”
As the protests have increased and gained widespread media coverage in India and abroad, many shopkeepers said their landlords has waived off the monthly rent.
Puneet Rawat, who works as a manager at a clothing store, said his employer runs four such stores in the market. “Our landlord has been kind and waived of the rent for the two shops. We support the protests. The government should intervene
and work something out,” said Rawat.
Some people in the area claimed that a few establishments have been shut permanently.
A local resident said a store named, ‘Style Hunt’, has closed down. Hindustan Times could not independently verify the claim but the shop was found closed on Wednesday.
An employee at a top footwear brand store, Afroz, 25, said, the local shopkeepers were the worst affected by the road closure.
“Traders who run shops that sell global brands can still bear the losses but the local traders have been the worst hit. Even if they have suffered losses of about ₹5 lakh this month, some of them will never be able to recover,” Afroz said.