Black Sunday for traders, shoppers

Black Sunday for traders, shoppers
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: Lights out during peak shopping hours before Diwali! Brigade Road, Commercial Street and Airport Road were plunged into darkness for nearly eight hours on Sunday.
“Diwali shopping reaches a fever pitch three to four days before the festival. Since it was a Sunday, we were expecting a fair turnout. Because of the power cut, I could not turn on LCD TVs in my showroom. It’s sad that Bescom cuts power supply at such times on the pretext of maintenance. For the past few days, our sales were hit by rain. On Sunday, we had good weather, but the power cut spoilt it,” said Brigade Shops and Establishments Association secretary Sohael Yusuf.
“It kills our Diwali business. So much has been spent on decorating the road, and a power cut is disappointing. We opened shops at 10.30 am and waited till 6.30 pm before power resumed,” said Sunit Gulrajani, who owns a camera shop.
Commercial Street Association chairman Md Nazim, who owns a garment outlet, said: “Shopkeepers bore the brunt the most. Eighty shops on this road use small generators and keep them outside. The noise irritates shoppers. It’s bad for our business, this being the last Sunday before Diwali. We’ve noticed that people shop for about 6 hours on days when there are no power cuts, but on days like these, they are gone in 3 hours,” he said.
Association president and builder, Nauman Razak, said: “Agreed that Bescom has to cut power for maintenance, but why do it at a wrong time? It could have been done later. People are in the festive mood and Bescom needs to pay more attention to their needs. Systems cannot collapse during festival time.”
Capt M B S Gopal, a resident of Indiranagar, said: “Without power, we cannot pump water from the underground tank in our house and a power cut like this affects life on a Sunday that should see us relaxing.”

Black Sunday for traders, shoppers
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: Lights out during peak shopping hours before Diwali! Brigade Road, Commercial Street and Airport Road were plunged into darkness for nearly eight hours on Sunday.
“Diwali shopping reaches a fever pitch three to four days before the festival. Since it was a Sunday, we were expecting a fair turnout. Because of the power cut, I could not turn on LCD TVs in my showroom. It’s sad that Bescom cuts power supply at such times on the pretext of maintenance. For the past few days, our sales were hit by rain. On Sunday, we had good weather, but the power cut spoilt it,” said Brigade Shops and Establishments Association secretary Sohael Yusuf.
“It kills our Diwali business. So much has been spent on decorating the road, and a power cut is disappointing. We opened shops at 10.30 am and waited till 6.30 pm before power resumed,” said Sunit Gulrajani, who owns a camera shop.
Commercial Street Association chairman Md Nazim, who owns a garment outlet, said: “Shopkeepers bore the brunt the most. Eighty shops on this road use small generators and keep them outside. The noise irritates shoppers. It’s bad for our business, this being the last Sunday before Diwali. We’ve noticed that people shop for about 6 hours on days when there are no power cuts, but on days like these, they are gone in 3 hours,” he said.
Association president and builder, Nauman Razak, said: “Agreed that Bescom has to cut power for maintenance, but why do it at a wrong time? It could have been done later. People are in the festive mood and Bescom needs to pay more attention to their needs. Systems cannot collapse during festival time.”
Capt M B S Gopal, a resident of Indiranagar, said: “Without power, we cannot pump water from the underground tank in our house and a power cut like this affects life on a Sunday that should see us relaxing.”