Chittagong Bureau :Only 3 days left to celebrate the grand festival of the Muslim community Eid-ul Fitr across the country . Ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, one of the major religious festivals of the Muslim community, is drawing at door steps, shopping has gained momentum with great hustle in the kitchen and posh markets in port city. The shops in the markets remained open from morning to late night upto sehri time in posh, kitchen and footpaths makeshifts and floating venders. The buyers are crowding in the city markets here to buy clothes and other choiseabole items for their families. The major shopping malls including New Market, shopping complex, Afmi Plaza, Appollo centre, Amin centre, Akhtaruruzzaman Centre, Khulshi mart, Singapore market, Bangkok -Singapore market, traditional Reazuddin Bazaar, Terribazar cloth market, EPZ Bay view market, VIP Tower, Sanmar Ocean city , Mimi super market and other small sized markets and the kitchen markets, footpaths were decorated with lighting and banners,festoons , different sources said. With a rise in the number of buyers, traffic jam became acute in the city’s different busy areas including New Market, Chawkbazar, Probortok, Andarkillah, GEC, Lalkhan bazar crossings and Agrabad Shoppers said that the prices of all products had increased by 10 to 20 per cent than the last year. ‘The sales after the Ramadan 20 was more than Taka one lakh a day last year but this year the volume of sales hiked to near about Tk.1.50 and above a day, said Ashad Iftakher, President of Sanmar Ocean City Businessmen Association. Talking to Kazol Bonik, General Secretary Mimi Super Market Businessmen Welfare Association said most of the public and private employees have started to get their salaries and festival bonus so the shop owners become busy selling their commodities as crowds of customers at the shopping centers start in the morning and continue till late night . According to the importers and wholesalers, this year’s most important development centering the Eid shopping economy was pushing of Indian products – which are traditionally dominating in Bangladesh’s Eid market into backward point due to heavy onrush of China, Taiwan and Thailand-made readymade garments, three pieces for girls, shoe, cosmetics, kids’ item and other fashion products. Popular Indian clothes are being sold at prices ranging from Taka 5000 to Taka 30,000. Both Indian and local saris are also in great demand, Abdul Mannan, General Secretary of Terribazar Businessmen Association quoting different market sources said. Different brands of local saris like Silk, Katan, Tangail and Indian Kanjilal, are in great demand in the local markets. Shamsun Nahar, a buyer at Sanmar Ocean City in the GEC area said the price is very high now. “I bought a dress for TK 8,300 which should not be as high like this,” she added. The buyers, mostly middle-income people, are found moving from shop to shop asking prices of goods. Roadside footpath shops and small shops are found more crowded than the big shopping malls. The popular Jahur hawkers markets of the city attracted huge customers this year and people irrespective of low, middle and higher income people thrown up in the market as the prices of commodities of all ages are available with comparatively chief. Mentionable that about 5 thousand shops located in this market. Meanwhile, a large number of makeshift shops have sprung up on the pavements of the city on the occasion of Eid Footpaths near the major markets are occupied by the venders temporarily and police not evicting the unauthorized grabbing of footpaths due to Eid reasons, sources said. The rich buyers are crowding different posh shopping centers, while the low-income people are also seen purchasing their desired items from the footpath shops and kitchten markets in the city. Traffic police were also seen struggling to tackle the situations in those points. It has become difficult for the buyers and locals to reach the destination in scheduled time due to heavy traffic congestion to cross the busy points of the city and creating immense sufferings them, buyers alleged.Besides the crime busting elite force RAB, police are vigilant on the road port city to check mugging, snatching, eve teasing and other unlawful activities . Additional police deployed in posh and footpath markets duly installed the CCTV camera to avoid the un wanted incidents , CMP sources said.
