LAHORE – The number of customers and stalls decreased at the Sunday Bazaars, as the massive hailstorm hitting the city on Saturday forced people to stay indoors. Vegetable and fruit prices increased around Rs 5 to 20 per kilogramme making it the second consecutive Sunday on which prices have hiked.
The massive hailstorm affected the bazaars in many ways, as water was present at the Model Town, Green Town, Johar Town and Wahdat Road Sunday Bazaars. Vendors said that people preferred to stay indoors due to rain water in bazaars and even they faced problems in setting-up stalls.
“There was rainwater at many places and the number of stalls decreased around 30 percent,” Vendor Ashraf at the Green Town Sunday Bazaar said, adding that the number of customers also decreased. “There was less rush than routine days and my sales also declined,” he added. Another vendor Akram Hussain said that there were fewer supplies due to rain and it caused an increase in prices of vegetables.
“Transporters faced problems in transporting vegetables from farms to markets due to rain and it caused a little shortage in Sunday Bazaars and prices increased,” the vendor said. Customers said that there is a very little difference in prices at the Sunday Bazaars and the open market. “There is no benefit of buying from the Sunday bazaars, as prices are the same,” customer Javed Latif said adding that there is no cleanliness at the Sunday Bazaars.
“The administration should give importance to cleanliness of bazaars, as heaps of garbage are seen everywhere,” he added. Vendors said that the price of chicken reduced, as its consumption decreased due to high prices. “A family, which used to buy three to four kilogrammes in a week, now only buys two to three kilogrammes and our sales have declined around 20 percent,” chicken seller Kamran Nagina said adding that prices could decrease further if this phenomenon continued.
