Protest zone malls continue to suffer, others see signs of revival
Times of India | 3 September 2024
12 Kolkata: Malls in Salt Lake and New Town clocked a surge in footfall on Sunday when people turned up in large numbers to start shopping for Durga Puja. But turnout at malls in Kolkata continued to suffer with protests and rallies dampening the mood.
“There was a sharp drop in footfall since Independence Day as the mood turned sombre with people taking to the streets in protest.But on Sunday, the tide appeared to turn with a jump in turnout. We have witnessed a 50% jump in footfall over the previous Sunday and 30% rise in revenue,” said Ramesh Pandey, wholetime director at Ambuja Neotia that operates two malls — City Centre I in Salt Lake and City Centre II in New Town.
While there were protests at Karunamoyee and its vicinity, the area around malls in Salt Lake and New Town has been largely unaffected, which has led to a change in public mood.
At Acropolis in Kasba, the footfall was higher than last Sunday’s, when rain had also played spoilsport. But mall general manager Subhadip Basu acknowledged that footfall was still 30% lower than the corresponding period last year. “Apart from an overall dip in footfall of local buyers, Bangladeshis who used to shop here are missing. We hope when the puja campaign is launched this week, it will infuse some excitement,” said Basu.
At Quest near Park Circus seven-point crossing, retailers said protests on the streets had impacted footfall. “The turnout was decent till Aug 23. But since then, it has been low. Protests and rallies on Sunday had an impact, but even otherwise, there is a sense of unease in the air,” said a retailer.
At South City mall, footfall was encouraging in the morning and afternoon but nosedived after protesters held a street play in front of the mall in the evening. Word got around on social media about traffic being disrupted on Prince Anwar Shah Road and those who had planned to visit the mall decided not to. Later, around 15 protesters, including doctors from a private medical college, tried to hold a demonstration inside the mall but were stopped by security personnel. This led to a war of words. But the mall authorities stayed firm.
“We empathise with the cause. The protests are justified. But a mall is a place for business and entertainment, not for an organised protest. We do not allow any placards or distribution of pamphlets on the mall premises. Or t-shirts with protest messages,” said an official.
Some youths who said th-ey were junior doctors at a pr-ivate hospital had sought permission from multiple malls for a flash-mob protest. But all malls denied permission.