The Eid-ul-Fitr festival, which marks the culmination of Muslim fasting month of Ramzan, will be celebrated either on Monday or Tuesday depending on the sighting of the crescent on Sunday. However, markets in and around the Lal Chowk city centre — the Srinagar’s commercial hub — have been witnessing muted sales.
The markets, especially the shops dealing with bakeries, confectioneries, ready-made garments and crockery, which used to witness a heavy rush of customers before Eid, are experiencing sluggish sales, he added.
“Every sector is affected. The sales were sluggish even in bakeries and confectionaries this year. Ready-made garment dealers are the most affected.
“To some extent, online shopping is to blame for that, but overall, the purchasing power of the people has decreased,” Shah said.
Earlier, long queues of people were seen in front of popular bakery shops in the city but those shops are also witnessing a dip in sales, traders said. “The sales are down from last year. There is no sign of the usual shopping zeal associated with Eid,” a bakery shop owner in Lal Chowk area said.
Meanwhile, traffic police personnel were deployed in large numbers in the city and in other district headquarters to manage the traffic movement as there have been reports of traffic snarls in several parts of the Valley.
