NEW DELHI: A day after the blast outside Red Fort, the usually bustling Chandni Chowk market was gripped by the unfamiliar sound of silence. On what would have been a crowded weekday, the lanes stood nearly empty, the shutters were down, and the air felt heavy with unease as people exchanged notes on last evening’s incident in hushed tones.
The explosion, which occurred near Gate No. 1 of Red Fort, led to the area being cordoned off with restrictions on entry, making it difficult for shopkeepers and customers to reach the market. Those who got there found the streets deserted and the usual chaos replaced by quiet conversations of disbelief.
“Chandni Chowk never sleeps,” said a 70-year-old shopkeeper who has run a leather bag store here for over five decades. “But yesterday, it felt like the life of the market stopped. People just wanted to rush home.”
Eyewitnesses recalled the panic that followed the loud blast. Within minutes, shopkeepers downed their shutters, customers fled, and the market which normally stays open till 9:30 pm was completely deserted by 7:45 pm.
“People were running in every direction. They were clueless. We didn’t even know what to do, should we run or just put the shutter down and go home,” said a florist Vikas, whose shop is opposite the Jain Mandir.
Even a day later, the unease is visible.
Street vendors, florists, and e-rickshaw drivers, many of whom depend on the heavy footfall around Red Fort, said they had not been able to work properly since the incident.
'Even those sleeping far off woke up and ran'
One of the street vendors Ram Vishvas, who sells socks in front of the Katra Neel in Chandni Chowk market, said, “Last evening, I was selling my items near Jain Mandir at the time of the incident. Aisa kabhi nahi dekha … baagha dori shuru ho gayi thi, log ghabra gaye the…, Mandir ke sheeshe tak tootne ki awaazein aayin thi…” (“Never seen anything like this before… the crowd had started to run in panic, people were terrified… you could even hear the sound of the temple’s glass shattering…”)
On the redeveloped stretch of Chandni Chowk, the impact could be felt everywhere. Vagabonds who are usually seen at the benches along the stretch spoke of the chaos they witnessed.
“The sound was so loud that even those sleeping far off woke up and ran,” one of them said.
Inside the nearby Jain Mandir, a priest described the horrific aftermath. “Some body parts had flown till our temple gate. People were crying, nobody knew what to do,” he said, visibly shaken.
'Same feeling of dread returned but this one was more dangerous'
Several locals also questioned the adequacy of policing in the area. “There are so many CCTV cameras, but still such an incident happened just outside a monument as important as Red Fort,” said another shopkeeper Pramod from Dariba Kalan. “We thought it was a transformer which had burst but then we realized that there is hardly any big transformer nearby,” he added.
Meanwhile, at the famous Dariba Kalan Jalebi Wala, Vikesh Singh Chauhan, who has been running the shop for 32 years, recalled witnessing a similar sense of fear decades ago.
“Since this is a jewellery market, everyone feared loot amid such a chaotic situation. I was there when a bomb blast took place in the pigeon market when the Chandni Chowk market was not even developed. I also witnessed another blast in 1997 near the fountain (Ghantewali gali). The same feeling of dread returned but this one was more dangerous.”
