With Eid-ul-Fitr is round the corner, Eid shopping has gained momentum in the provincial capital, as shoppers thronged the shopping centres, markets and shops on Wednesday.
Apart from the regular shops, temporary stalls have surfaced in front of most of the major markets and shopping centres, where bangles, jewellery and embroidered stitch and unstitched clothes are being sold.
Similar stalls are offering discounts on shoes, clothes and other consumer items. Most of the markets and shopping malls have been illuminated to attract the customers.
In order to ensure protection of people, policemen in uniform and plain clothes have been deployed at important business centres and markets. In order to ensure smooth flow of traffic, officials of traffic police have also been deployed around various markets.
However, long queues of vehicles have been seen at various shopping centres particularly, The Mall, Anarkali, Liberty, Defence. Shopkeepers at various markets including Anarkali, Allama Iqbal Town, Ichhra, Panorama Centre etc said business was picking pace.
During a visit to Anarkali Bazaar, it has been revealed that items of interest to women like short kameez, woollen knit wears, knitted garments and imitation ornaments are in heavy demand. But people are not happy because of the soaring prices of various items. A short kameez this year is offered for Rs 800, though it was available for Rs 500 previous year.
Similarly, the prices of children and teenagers' clothes and shoes are also high enough as compared to last year. City markets and shopping stores are also stuffed with famous brands of cosmetics, but these are not in heavy demand.
Muhammad Javed Khan, a trader of the Mall having shoe stores told this scribe that Lahoriites used to throng the markets and shopping Malls on Chand Raat for Eid shopping.
The present rush of customers in the markets is of those people who used to celebrate Eid with their kith and kin in their native towns but prefer Eid shopping in Lahore. He said they are expecting huge turn out of customers on Thursday.
However, he said this year their Eid turnover has declined almost 50 percent due to devastation caused by massive earthquake in Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas.
Moreover, heavy rush of passengers was seen at bus stands, railway station and airport. Everybody was in a haste to reach their native towns to celebrate Eid with their kith and kin. Some passengers at Badami Bagh and Yateem Khana bus stands complained that they are facing difficulties in getting transport.
Apart from this, transporters have enhanced the fares without any justification.
Nawaz Niazi, an official of a transport company said that they are running more and more buses to cater the additional rush of passengers on the occasion of Eid.
He denied that his company was not involved in over charging. However, he said that there might be some transporters who are involved in over charging of fares taking undue advantage of the situation.
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