Owners claim that they have suffered losses anywhere between 35 to 40 per cent since the NDMC directed its ire on them
Two months after the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) cracked down on restaurants in Connaught Place running operations on the terrace, the outlets are reeling under severe losses coupled with retrenchment. With hardly any solution in sight and the civic body in no mood to relax its norms, owners stare at an uncertain future, one which may force them to shut the shops.
Since February, popular hangout joints like Bunta Bar, Junkyard, Vault, Tamasha, Warehouse Cafe, Farzi Cafe, etc have closed down their terraces, which was one of the main USPs of these places. As a result, the footfall too took a beating, especially on weekends when the places are normally jam-packed. Owners claim that they have suffered losses anywhere between 35 to 40 per cent since the NDMC directed its ire on them.
"We have been hit financially as well as psychologically. In the past two months, I have incurred sharp dip of at least 35 per cent in my business. Though we are trying to keep ourselves afloat, it is not an easy task," said Anchit Kapil, owner, Bunta Bar. He added that they have not been able to earn any profit since November when demonetization happened and the NDMC onslaught has been a double whammy for them.
Employees working with outlets in CP too are bearing the brunt of NDMC's move as many of them have lost their jobs and others are fearing a similar fate to unveil anytime. "I was asked to leave in Feb-end. Three of my other colleagues too were shown the door a week after I left. The management said they could no longer afford a big team. We became the unsuspecting scapegoat in this war between NDMC and restaurants," said a steward who did not wish to be named. Few others have faced reduction in salaries so that the owners could keep the venture running. "Yes, I have downsized by 20 per cent across four of my outlets. I tried as much as I could to retain them but one has to be practical," Uman Tewari, owner of Junkyard stated.
With the last deadline of March 31 given by NDMC to arrive at a feasible solution already gone, businessmen rue that they do not see any light at the end of the tunnel. Apart from agonising upon the "disparity" in law, they claim to be targeted deliberately.
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