M A I N   N E W S

Mumbai ATTACKED
Diamond market reopens amid tight security
Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service

Mumbai, July 18
The diamond market at Zaveri Bazar in South Mumbai, one of the three places which were bombed on July 13, reopened today amidst tight security. In the morning, members of the Diamond Merchants' Association had a prayer meeting and a ceremony as a mark of respect towards those who lost their lives in the blast.

According to the association, five of its members had died in the blast.

“The trading today was low key as people are still coping with the loss of lives in the attack. Moreover, people who had left the city following the blast are yet to return,” vice-president of the association Mahendrabhai Gandhi said.

The diamond market attracts more than 4,000 merchants who buy and sell stones of various shapes and sizes within the Panchratna and Prasad Chambers buildings. Much business is also conducted in the open by small players who are unable to afford space in the buildings nearby.

This morning, however, the activity on the road outside was poor with a tight blanket of security enforced by the police. Entry into the area was tightly restricted with police personnel checking bags of belongings of people entering and leaving the area. There were fewer vehicles parked in the area as the authorities strictly enforced parking restrictions. The Khau Gully or food corner which comes to life late in the afternoon and which bore the brunt of last week's blast is unlikely to reopen, the police said.

Diamond merchants have told the police that they do not want illegal hawkers to operate from the area as scores of people gather to eat there in the evenings.

The Diamond Merchants' Association estimates that more than 50,000 people are employed at the diamond market. According to Gandhi, the diamond merchants spent the weekend cleaning up the offices in the buildings in and around the area. “Offices had to be cleaned because glass pieces had scattered following the blasts,” Gandhi said. The buildings in and around the affected area attracts scores of foreigners every day.

Precious haul
Teams of workers employed with various diamond units have recovered around 65 diamonds from the debris caused by the blasts, according to the association. The debris was collected in sacks and stored on the premises of various diamond merchants in the area. Workers were busy over the weekend picking through the rubbish. The association is mulling auctioning off these stones so that the proceeds are used to rehabilitate those injured in the blasts or for the welfare of the next of kin of those who died in the blast.