Terror tourism to Indian blast sites begins

On Sunday evening the city usually spends its day off at Juhu beach, Gateway of India and Chowpatty. But this Sunday, they boarded a train, took their cameras to visit the blast sites at Zaveri Bazaar, Opera House and Dadar. “We went to Zaveri Bazaar and Opera House in the morning. We had gone earlier as well but the police had cordoned it off. The Zaveri Bazaar site was open on Sunday but Opera House was still cordoned off,” said Tushar Mehta, 23, a Juhu resident.

Disaster tourism, something which has become a part of the aftermath of any terror attack in the city, began early this time round.

Sonia Shah, 18, and her friends headed to the spot a day after the attacks.

“A day after the blasts, I went to Dadar near the Kabutar Khana, along with a group of friends. I wanted the meet politicians and policemen because we usually see them only on television,” said the Class 12 commerce student. But what about the fear of going to a place where several have been injured and some have died as well. “Since the blasts had already taken place, I was knew it would be safe,” added Shah.

On social networking sites such as Facebook, people have put up pictures of themselves at the blast sites with statuses such as ‘Damn you terrorists! We will fight back! and ‘You can kill us; but not our spirits. Just saw Mumbaiites back on the streets in Dadar. Respect.’

Many others visited the spots just to feel the magnitude of the terror that ripped the city.

“Being there at the spot was the only way to experience the real feeling. Television visuals and newspapers are not the real indicators of the magnitude of the blasts. So early on Thursday morning, I went to the spot. Silence had taken over the otherwise bustling area,” said Anish Saxena, 20, a student.