06 July,2010 08:06 AM IST | | A correspondent
The city may have suffered a whopping Rs 300 crore loss in revenue because of the bandh yesterday, but there were some who were fortunate enough to have avoided a big dent in their balance sheets.
Ashok Minawala of the All India Gems & Jewellery Association said that nearly 50 per cent of those in the retail sector are any way closed on Monday, and hence the bandh did not affect business as badly as predicted.
"There might have been some loss for the 40 per cent that are usually open, but I do not think it made much difference," said Minawala.
Prices of grains and pulses also stayed put. Sharad Maru, president of GROMA, said that a single day's protest was "too insignificant to affect food grain prices."
"Only a prolonged strike would send prices shooting up. These grains are not imported, they are produced locally and hence there can hardly be a difference," said Maru.u00a0
Tourists stay away
Tourists made a last minute cancellation after the situation in the city worsened. "We witnessed almost 15 per cent cancellations today after the situation worsened all over the country. Many were cancelled in the last minute," said Iqbal Mulla, treasurer of Travel Agents Association of India.
Kaushik Joshi, a resident of Malad, who was supposed to fly to Amsterdam, was forced to postpone his trip after the situation went out of hand in the city. "I had an appointment with my clients but I decided to postpone the trip as I was worried that people would go on rampage. It is better to be safe than sorry," said Joshi, a chartered accountant.
