Srinagar, Aug 8: After several days of running curfews and massive public protests, the Valley opened on Sunday for a day, with markets witnessing rush.
Customers in droves could be seen swarming in markets, despite it being Sunday, mostly looking for edibles and essential commodities. The curfew was lifted on Sunday from various parts of the Valley following “improvement” in the situation.
Especially in Srinagar’s commercial hub Lal Chowk, the rush was heavy, which was further increased by the traditional Sunday Market.
“The customer rush is tremendous,” exclaimed Mir Shujaat Ahmad at Fabric Today, Residency Road, here.
Since early morning, shoppers flocked to shops, grocery stores, petrol pumps, ration stores, bakery shops, vegetable sellers and medical stores.
People were seen purchasing food items with longer shelf life in bulk, including flour, cooking oil, pulses, milk powder, wheat, ghee, butter, so on and so forth. FMCG products too were in huge demand.
At many places, people were seen standing in long queues waiting to get their LPG cylinders refilled. Many customers were also seen depositing the payments of telephone and mobile phone bills, which in many cases were pending for long.
In the run up to the holy month of Ramadan, many shoppers were seen buying items like fresh dates, juices, snacks, pickles, dry fruits and so on.
“In view of another long-drawn spell of protests and possible curfews, we are trying to buy most of the items required during Ramadan. We simply can’t afford to miss this opportunity,” said Altaf Hamid Bhat, a shopper at Subhana Departmental Store here at Regal Chowk.
“Unlike last three instances of relaxation, dry fruits are very much in demand at present in view of the forthcoming holy Ramadan,” said Abdul Rashid, a trader at Maharaja Bazaar.
Despite being Sunday, many of the private and cooperative banks and some educational institutions remained open for the day.

RUSH AT ATMS
People in long queues could be seen outside the ATMs waiting for their turn to withdraw money. “Till late evening today, the J&K Bank ATMs disbursed nearly Rs 25 crore across the Valley through more than 60,000 transactions,” a senior official of the bank told Greater Kashmir.
He said the designated branches of J&K Bank that remain open on Sundays, were open today also. “We have over 15 designated branches across the Valley that work on Sundays also for the convenience of our customers. Since all our branches are on Finacle, the customers of other branches can also operate on these branches,” he said.
With streets being jam-packed, vehicles were seen travelling at a snail pace and traffic snarls were witnessed at many places across the city, especially at Amira Kadal, Residency Road, Moulana Azad Road, Hari Singh High Street, Maharaja Bazaar and Hazuri Bagh.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 7 Aug 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 7 Aug 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 8 Aug 2010 00:00:00 IST