Published on : Tuesday, April 23, 2019
A few kilometres away, Dubai market close to the Nani Daman beach has the same picture. This market, considered the epicenter of shopping in the Union Territory of Daman and Diu, is experiencing the effect of e-commerce firms taking away business on one hand, while goods and services tax (GST) is impacting prices of products.
Three years back, for shoppers, there wasn’t even an inch of space to walk in both these locations. At present, either shops have been permanently closed or have a pile of overstock goods.
Ameen Akhtar, the owner of half a dozen markets on the Nani Daman beach road, explained that the government has not been capable to do anything important to attract the young population.
“Something like clean toilets on the beach for weekend travellers is a must. That itself is absent. Without tourists, how will our business run?” he wonders.
For long, there has been a demand to develop the infrastructure conditions of Daman. Small business owners claim that Dadra and Nagar Haveli and its capital Silvassa are miles ahead when it comes to roads and public infrastructure.
“Tourists are choosing Silvassa and Goa over Daman, which is a sad development. Further, because of GST, the prices of finished goods have also gone up and customers are not ready to pay. They are able to get the same product for cheaper online,” added Qareem Mohammed, a textile industry association member.
Biraj Shekhar, Mohammed, and other shop owners had made an effort to question the local administration about a Rs 700-crore fund that was to be released from the Centre.
“We were told to not interfere in these matters. But how do we earn our living then?” asks Shekhar.