The Khyber Super Market, which was a preferred residential area for lower middle class, is now giving a deserted look after the deadly bomb blasts last month. Students and people working in government and private sectors are vacating the locality because of the fear and resultant insecurity that they feel. The trend is worrisome for the restaurants and shopkeepers as it is hitting hard on their businesses.
Students and government and semi government employees resided in the Khyber Super Market as accommodation was economical and easily available. Sometimes, the market gave the impression that it was an extension of the Peshawar University’s hostels. But the twin blasts on June 12, which claimed 58 innocent lives, have snatched the thrill and excitement of the market.
There are around residential 60 buildings which were once fully occupied. Although, traders have restarted their businesses but they are nowhere near the position prevailing before the June 12. And the people hailing from FATA and far-flung areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are biggest victims. In one of the building, there are 120 rooms of which 60 have already been vacated.
Ashraf Khan, the owner, told to Pakistan Today that he had been affected economically as his income was reduced sharply. People fear that similar terror acts could be carried in future as well, thus reducing the number of visitors. Gul Zada, who owns a food stall, says prior to June 12, he was earning Rs 8000 daily but the figure now stood at Rs 3000.
And the effects are long-lasting. A student, Jalal, who is an eyewitness of the carnage, said he still felt the effects of the deafening sound of the explosions. “The incident compelled me to shift to some other place as I can’t forget the crying injured people.” One of his mates was also inured seriously and later died; therefore, he was afraid of the room and the locality, he added.
The mosque, which was once full of worshippers, now mostly remained empty with only a few dozen people attending the prayers.
Jamil, a cobbler, say before the bomb blasts, he easily managed to earn Rs 500 a day but ruined market had slashed his income to Rs 200. “It is just a graveyard,” he remarked.
