SRINAGAR: The volatile downtown Srinagar has emerged as a new business hub of the Valley, where worst-ever floods on September 7 caused largescale destruction in most of the civil lines area, including prestigious city centre Lal Chowk.
The shopkeepers in the civil lines area are busy clearing the muck and moulds of mud and dirt from their shops and business establishments. Following the floods, Lal Chowk and other civil lines localities, including posh areas of Rajbagh, Jawahar Nagar, Indira Nagar, Shivpora and Sonwar, had remained under 10-14 feet of water for over a week.
All the goods in the shops were destroyed in the deluge and after the flood water receded, the destruction was visible. It has been over two weeks since water completely receded from Lal Chowk but shopkeepers are sill clearing the muck left behind by the flood.
Bakrid will be celebrated in the Valley on Monday but there is no sign of festivity in Lal Chowk, where a commuter or passerby has necessarily to wear a mask nowadays for his/her own safety because of the polluted environment.
Big names like Mughal Durbar, Jee Enn Sons dealing with bakery and Modern Sweets and Shakti Sweets dealing with sweets were closed. On every Bakrid, these shops would do sales in lakhs of rupees, but the streets now wore a deserted look as owners are yet to clean their shops.