But for rain, more lives would have been lost

Gokul Chats in Hyderabad where the bomb blast took place on Saturday evening had reopened only two months back. The eatery, which is famous for its chats, had been shut down by the officials of the health and sanitation department on March 12 following complaints of unhygienic food being served.

The place had been ordered to be shut down also due to unauthorised running of the premises and lack of mandatory parking place. The matter in fact had been battled in the Andhra Pradesh high court, which had upheld the decision to close the place.

However, after complying with the mandatory requirements, the place opened up once again two months ago. Gokul Chats is a favourite with several residents of Hyderabad. There is a literally a stampede during the weekends at this place, a reason why the place was targeted.

Some residents say that had it not been raining, the loss of life could have been much worse.

"Usually there is very less chance of getting into the place during a weekend, but Saturday was a different story thanks to the rains," said Shameem, a vendor in the Koti area. He said that the number of people who visit the chat shop during the weekends is so high that traffic in the area comes to a standstill.

Saturday's blast at the Gokul Chat shop claimed 32 lives.