KALEEM GEELANI
SRINAGAR: Restaurants and cafes in Srinagar have seen a sharp decline in the number of customers and home delivery orders in the past week due to the coronavirus scare.
Several restaurant owners expressed concern over the decline in number of customers and orders, which they said are decreasing by the day. Managers of prominent restaurants in the city centre, like Mummy Please, TAO Cafe, and Cafe De Polo, said their daily earnings have been badly affected.
The manager of Mummy Please restaurant said that sales have dipped up to 50% in the past week. The closure of educational institutions in the city had also caused this decline, he said.
Syed Tanveer, manager of TAO Cafe, told Kashmir Reader, “We have witnessed a decline of 60%-70% in customers visiting our restaurant. We used to serve at least 20 tables per day, now we’re only serving 5-6 tables per day. This has happened since a week ago due to the threat of coronavirus.”
Similarly, there has been a decline in customers at cafes that specifically serve coffee and tea to their customers.
A worker at Cafe De Polo said, “We used to serve around 100 customers per day, but currently we’re only serving 30-40. This is all due to fear as people want to avoid gatherings.”

Reader correspondent