Huma Hafiz
After remaining deserted for continuous two years due to covid lockdown, the Kashmir markets are abuzz with the shoppers ahead of Eid ul Fitr. This is the first Eid celebrated across Kashmir with no covid restrictions.
As the holy month of Ramzan comes to an end, people visit markets for the Eid shopping with great austerity.
Unlike in the past, traffic movement is seen more than before, however traffic in the busiest Lal chowk of the main city has been well managed by the government.
People were seen in the queues at the mutton shops, chicken outlets, readymade garments, crockery stores and with the tailors for the Eid shopping.
The markets have become alive with hordes of shoppers bringing joy on the face of the business community. The shopkeepers were seen greeting people after two years of pandemic lockdown.
“The festivity is there but the business is not the same as it was before covid. Pandemic incurred huge losses to the business community here in Kashmir. People are cashless, there are no jobs around, the rate of purchase has witnessed a downfall which automatically affects the business community. Hope it will return to normal and the real festivity is seen everywhere,” said a shopkeeper here in Lalchowk.
However the prices of essential commodities have skyrocketed with the government a mute spectator. People claim that prices of all estates have increased by 20 or 30 percent. Even mutton ,for which the government has a fixed rate of RS 535 per kilogram now is being sold at 650 per kilogram.
The skyrocketing prices of essential commodities left people unhappy as the financial crisis has already taken upto the lives of common people.
