Over the weekend, restauranteurs across the city witnessed a sharp decline in their business
With several warnings from the MET Department and the BMC Commissioner, people in the city preferred to stay back at home
The city of Mumbai received an average of 400 mm rainfall and certain places recorded nearly 500 mm within almost 48 hours from June 18. Over the weekend, restauranteurs across the city witnessed a sharp decline in their business. On an average there was a drop of 25-30 per cent in the business across the majorly affected areas of Mumbai and Thane.
Located at one of the busiest areas in Thane, Amogh Restaurant is one of the oldest eateries in the city which is usually flooded with customers. Bhaskar Shetty, owner, Amogh Restaurant and Bar said, “The business was bad during the last three days. There were a lot of cancellations and we had to incur some loss. Usually when there is a situation like this, the business goes down for a couple of days, but I am sure it will again stabilise. Speaking about home deliveries, we do not take orders online. But we to deliver to some of our regular customers who live close by.”
While Mahendra Karkera, partner, Mahesh Lunch Home Fort said, “Over the last three days due to heavy rainfall, we have witnessed 50 per cent of cancellations. Even though the customers were ordering online/ home delivery, we could not manage delivering the orders due to the inaccessibility of mode of transport and manpower. Also, we being a seafood specialty restaurant, sourcing of raw materials is low due to less of stock in the market as during the rains fishing is banned. In the last three days there has been a 25-30 per cent drop in table occupancy. And overall, over the three months of the monsoon season restauranteurs generally witness a 20-25 per cent drop in business.”
With several warnings from the MET Department and the BMC Commissioner, people in the city preferred to stay back at home. People were more cautious this year, after the 26th July floods in 2005 in Mumbai.
Adarsh B Shetty, president, AHAR (Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association) and owner of Hotel Adarsh in Chembur said, “ After the 26th July incident, every citizen of the state looks at getting back home or his locality, going to a restaurant would be a secondary thought. In general due to the rains, our business goes down by 25-30 per cent over the three months. Residential areas could see a 20-30 per cent drop in business, while office areas could see a 50-60 per cent drop in business.”
