Amid shutdown in Srinagar, an increased rush of shoppers and sellers were witnessed today in the weekly Sunday market at commercial hub Lal Chowk.Witnesses said that the rush of shoppers led to the traffic jam in the areas, which forced the commuters to take alternative routes.The weekly market stretches from Tourist Reception Centre (TRC) to Polo View area, a distance of half a kilometre. The shoppers from different areas thronged the market to buy items like clothes, blankets and other stuff.The vendors who had installed stocks in the market said that by noon they had sold more than half of their stock.Hundreds of street vendors had arrived early morning today to get space in the market while some among them didn’t find any space in the market and installed their stocks at an extended stretch of the market.
A local vendor told KNS that the market remained fully flooded with the shoppers. “It was a good day as I managed to sell around 80 per cent of my stock. Hopefully I would vend the entire stock by evening,” Manzoor Ahmad, a local vendor said.He said that the winter collections like sweater, blankets, jackets and other things were in great demand. Manzoor said that the people had thronged the market from various places and purchased several goods here. Fazil Hameed, a shopper told KNS that besides second hand items, the vendors are selling fresh products as well in affordable prices. “It seems that there was 50 per cent sale on the products today,” he said. Pertinently, reports said that the weekly flea market had opened partially on October 02 when it was the 86th consecutive day of shutdown and witnessed a few shoppers.There was some increase in the rush on October 9 which further increased on October 16. (KNS)