Srinagar, Aug 12: In compliance to the ‘strike calendar’ issued by Hurriyat (G), the markets in the Valley opened for a day on Thursday, which coincided with the beginning of Ramadhan. The business activity pick up after 12 noon.
 All the business establishments, banks, educational institutions, clinics and private offices remained open. All through the day there was much spurt in the business activities and public movement.
 There was huge public rush at ATM kiosks, fuel stations, ration depots and grocery stores. “We are witnessing a huge customer rush. It’s only 2:30 PM and we have received over 200 customers mostly asking for edibles and essentials,” said Rouf Mir, proprietor, Subhana Departmental Store at Regal Chowk here.
 However, many traders maintained that the customer rush was not as good as it was on some previous dates when the markets remained open.
 Fresh dates, Suji, dry fruits and other items required during Ramadhan were in huge demand, though dates were reported to be short in supply.
 “Every Ramadan we would get 200 boxes of fresh dates per week, but this time we have received only 100 boxes owing to the prevailing situations,” said Rouf Mir.
 Even roadside vendors selling dates were less in number in the market. “Earlier we would watch many such vendors passing by this road, but today there were not many,” said a shopkeeper at Residency Road, here.
 While fruit, vegetable and Kashmiri traditional snack sellers at many places could be seen swarmed by the people, sweets and bakery items had many takers as well.
 Medical stores too witnessed a heavy rush, though people continued to complain of shortage of various drugs in the market. Even as some routine medicines were available in the market, many high-dose drugs imported from outside the Valley were reported to have run short of stocks.
 Public as well as private vehicles were ferrying normally on the streets, while traffic snarls were witnessed at many places as people came out in large numbers to stock up supplies.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 12 Aug 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 12 Aug 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 13 Aug 2010 00:00:00 IST