Abid Bashir
Srinagar (NVI): As the Srinagar administration allowed the markets to open for three days ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, thousands of shoppers thronged the historic Lal Chowk and downtown areas for shopping, amid the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic that has claimed 337 lives in the Union Territory so far.
Kashmir was under tight grip of lockdown from July 22 to 27. The Srinagar administration said that lockdown will remain in place and markets will be allowed to open from July 29 for three days i.e. till July 31. Eid will be celebrated across Kashmir on August 1.
A large number of people flooded Lal Chowk, the city centre and the commercial hub of Srinagar for Eid purchases. Women, girls, kids also came out on the streets for shopping.
“Over the past year, Srinagar markets have hardly opened. Initially after August 4 last year, when the Centre announced abrogation of Article 370, markets remained shut till November. And when we were hoping for a tourist season this year in February, pandemic played spoilsport and triggered shutdown,” said Imtiyaz Ahmed, who runs a kids-wear store. He said that today somehow, customers arrived in the markets raising hope of hundreds of shopkeepers.
Rashid Bhat, a shopper, said he was delighted to see the markets open and abuzz but added that hardly no one was following Covid-19 guidelines. “Not even five percent of the people I saw in the market, were wearing face masks. Social distancing seemed to be a cruel joke. People of Kashmir are taking the deadly disease very lightly and results are in front of us,” he said.
Majority of the shopkeepers were, however, seen wearing masks while hand sanitizers were available at every shop. People present in the market told NVI that huge traffic snarls were also witnessed in the city centre due to the rush.
Many people were seen buying sacrificial animals too which includes sheep, goat etc. People however, alleged that those selling sacrificial animals were not following the rates fixed by the government which is 240 per kg for sheep and 210 per kg for goats. “There is no checking squad of government. People selling sacrificial animals are fleecing common people,” alleged Yasin Bhat, who purchased two sheep weighing 85 kgs at the rate of 300 per kg.
-CHK
