The protests at Jantar Mantar are taking a toll on the business of not just the traders of the nearby markets. Traffic diversions and blockage of roads are primarily preventing people from going to these markets.
Traders claimed they have witnessed a slump of more than 50 per cent in their business during the last two years especially after the anti-corruption movement by Anna Hazare at the venue in April 2011. For most of them survival has become difficult as at the time of the demonstrations no one prefers to visit these areas and the customers gets diverted to other places.
However, the street vendors and the street shops surrounding the protest venue have been reaping the benefit of these protests. The dosa shops at Jantar Mantar and other juice shops register excessively high sales during the protests.
“There is a dip in sales by nearly 50 per cent when protests are on. Roads remain blocked due to protests. Janpath was once called as the “queen’s way” and there used to be a lot of foreign tourists. Now due to the frequent demonstrations everything is in a mess. It is affecting the daily routine of the people as also our business. Parking chaos in the area also prevents visitors from coming here” said Ashwini Kathpalia a dismayed owner of a prominent confectionary store, Depauls at Janpath. Adding to that, Gautam, owner of leather Smith Gallery, said “Its not just the sales that drop .There are times when we have to literally shut down our shops because protestors storm the streets in huge numbers. There is a constant fear that these rabble rousers might even break into our shops,” he said.
The big and old establishments too are not spared during the protests as they said their sale was also reduced by at least 20 percent. “During protests our sale decreases by 15-20 percent. We are even mulling legal recourse to get rid of the perennial problem,” said a manager at the Kwality Restaurant in Connaught Place. However, big hotels, like The Park and others said such protests had no impact on them as they had a different category of customers who do not get deterred by such activities. The area surrounding Jantar Mantar is archeologically rich and once used to witness a lot of foreign visitors but now the situation has changed. S Nanda, the owner of imperial stores and tailors, was grief stricken as he said, “Foreigners, who were the mainstay of our business at one time, have disappeared. They don’t choose to come as they get frightened to see the demonstrations; our sales have dipped by more than 60 per cent.”