India, Oct. 18 -- For the first time in the last 15 days, shops and restaurants remained open in Connaught Place on Friday, with no restriction on the movement of people. As demonstrations linked to special intensive revision (SIR) continue across the city, traders in Delhi's commercial lifelines like CP, Janpath, Khan Market, Sarojini Nagar, and Lajpat Nagar say they have incurred a massive loss of business during what is usually the busiest time of the year. "Barricades are up all around Connaught Place, police are deployed, and shoppers naturally prefer to stay away in such a situation," says Atul Bhargava, president of New Delhi Traders Association. He adds, "Our Navratri sales usually jump to Rs.3 lakh daily, but in the current scenario, our business is down by 10% to 25%. Our overheads don't stop. There are over 2,500 establishments and 60,000 workers who depend on these markets... Democracy gives them a right to protest, but it also gives me a right to earn my livelihood. I am a trader first and everything else later." Navneet Kalra, a member of Khan Market Traders Association, says that barricades are impacting both and and digital sales: "Sales in Khan Market are down by 40% to 50%, while CP footfall has collapsed completely. Even food delivery riders are avoiding these routes, killing online orders. We aren't cutting staff, but facing losses daily is back-breaking." For smaller shopkeepers, the blockade threatens total ruin. Kuldeep Singh Sawhney, general secretary of Sarojini Nagar Market Shops & Flats Association, shares, "Small traders take high-interest loans to stock inventory for this four-month festive window that sustains us all year. Protesters have a right to demonstrate, but do it inside designated stadiums, not on public streets at the cost of our livelihoods."...