Day after: It’s business as usual

‘‘I arrived in Pahalgam 15 minutes after the blast, as the injured were being taken to hospital. Initially, my wife was a bit scared, but on seeing the beauty here, she stopped worrying. I must admit though, the locals played superb hosts by not letting panic spread among the tourists,’’ said Lal, as his wife Janak Baliya nods in agreement.

At the reception of the Pahalgam Hotel, its manager G.N. Wani is busy checking in the new guests. His packed 28-room hotel has seen no guests check out in fear, though, some advance bookings were cancelled. Jaipur-based Amrita Chaturvedi with her 11 family members in tow, didn’t cancel her visit to Pahalgam. She heard about the blast yesterday in Srinagar, but still made the three-hour-trip to this “heaven”. ‘‘We came to Kashmir to enjoy it’s beauty and we are doing it. There is no fear, nobody can instill fear in us,’’ she said as her family members hooted in approval at the amusement park on the banks of the fast flowing Lidder stream.

Among the high-profile visitors on Sunday were J-K CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who led his team in reassuring tourists. His Tourism and Home Ministers too were on the spot to calm any frayed nerves among the picnickers. Beneath the brave face though, many underlying apprehensions stalk people’s minds. People heavily dependent on the tourism industry fear the wrong image sent out by Saturday’s attack could force people to have second thoughts about visiting Kashmir. ‘‘After 14 years, business had begun picking up gradually here, but yesterday’s attack could deal a blow to our hopes. You can already see the affect. My business has considerably dropped in contrast to yesterday. Not many are tasting my ice creams,’’ said Narinder Singh, owner of an ice cream parlour.

Singh, however, can take heart from Vinod Kaul, a Kashmiri based in Delhi for the last 15 years. Lapping up his ice creams, Kaul says he made two trips to Pahalgam in just one week, simply to feast on its picturesque beauty.

‘‘Earlier, I was here with my extended family. But I came back again with my children and wife and we will continue with our schedule, as there is no panic around here.’’ he said.

Meanwhile, the toll in the blast has risen to five, as one more victim, Mohit Lal of Ahmedabad, succumbed to his injuries on Sunday.

The body of Bahwesh Chanderkant — who died on the spot on Saturday — along with those of his son Ratik (10) and daughter Neelu (8), was flown to Mumbai in the afternoon. Most of the injured, except for three persons, were discharged from Srinagar hospital.