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Karan Nagar: From dazzling showrooms to ruins, muck

FARZANA SYED. Dated: 10/5/2014 1:32:44 AM

SRINAGAR, Oct 4: Dazzling showrooms, shops crowded with customers, busy roads, a huge hustle and bustle, this used to be the picture of one of the busy commercial hubs of the city Karan Nagar.
However the flood waters ravaged the glitter of this place and left it with tales of devastation and destruction all around. Today the scenes in this market are completely opposite and heart rendering.
The floods have spilled over mud and slush across the entire area and turned it into ruins. The streets of this market have turned ghostly as this entire place has undergone a change for the worse. Murkiness prevails all around.
Karan Nagar was under around 15 feet of water with most of the residential and commercial buildings submerged badly. Almost a month has passed and the shopkeepers and complex owners are cleaning their shops off the rubble and dirt left by flood waters.
Wherever the eyes go, only muck and mess could be seen. The place has been turned into a garbage dump. The entire market has suffered massive losses which are irreparable indeed.
Most of the business men are not able to gather courage to talk about the loss they have undergone.
Ayaz Ahmad who runs pharmaceutical business said, “This is traumatizing to every extent that is all I can say.” Ayaz Ahmad had pharmaceuticals worth around Rs. 30 lakhs stored in the godown of his business complex. However, at present one can see only piles of dirt and grime with unbearable stink.
These are in fact scenes at every shop and showroom in the area. The entire place is completely in a mess. The stock and goods worth billions and trillions have been turned into piles of garbage.
Ali Mohammad who used to run a gift shop is not able come out of the trauma. For him it is a double tragedy. He says, “I live nearby. Floods destroyed my house. I could not bring out even a single thing. My shop has been completely devastated. I am not able to understand how to react.”
Karan Nagar accommodates a number of commercial complexes, food outlets, garment showrooms, furnishing shops and scores of other business outlets. This place used to be crowded with people amid brisk business activities.
Inaam Ahmad who owns a readymade garment showroom said, “This is a tragedy beyond tragedy. The cruel waters have left this place haunted. One does not feel like coming over here. Most of the people are not opening their shops. They are in trauma. What is left over here now
is only debris with foul smell. The loss is immense. It is just not possible to overcome it.”