Srinagar, Dec 13: The cold wave in the Valley may be giving trouble to commoners, but a segment of business is definitely feeling its ‘warmth’.
 According to the traders here the steep dip in the temperatures has brought about a good deal of demand for woolen wears, jerseys, warm pullovers, blankets, and related items.
 The cold has also brought a good demand for shawls, furnishings, heavy curtains, blowers, room heaters, etc.
 Muhammad Aslam, a shopkeeper in Lal Chowk said: “Presently there is a huge demand for the pullovers, jackets, sweaters and woolen wears.”
 He added: “We get hundreds of customers daily and our sales have improved considerably.”
 Many readymade garment sellers expressed their satisfaction with what they said tremendous increase in their business.  “After losing an entire summer season to the strikes, shutdowns and curfews, this chill has brought some hope to us,” said Tanveer Ahmad, a dealer in Shahr-e-Khas, here.
 He added: “I almost every day place huge orders with the outside dealers to cater to the demand here.”
 Gulzar Ahmad, a shopkeeper in Bemina, here said: “There is a good demand for the blankets both ordinary as well as quality and electric blankets. I am doing quite good since the cold wave has gripped the Valley.”
 However, he hastened to add that the result for good demand in his case was that he sells the blankets at most reasonable prices. “Yes of course there is demand. But another reason I am doing good is that I am selling my products at reasonable prices,” he said.
 Abdul Majeed, a customer said: “Last week I purchased three blankets, although we have a good number of blankets at our home. But due to severe cold, it is better if you have more and more ‘cold-fighting items.’”
 Showkat Ahmad, owner Electrical Appliance Home, in Bemina said: “Although there is a huge demand for the room heaters and blowers, it could have been even more had the power been no problem in Kashmir.”
 “You see power has become a big problem for the people. In every 24 hours, you get the electricity hardly for eight to nine hours that too with breaks and at low voltage. So this is something that discourages the consumers from purchasing the electric appliances like electric heaters and blowers. Had there been no power problem, you would see there would have been even greater demand for these items,” he said.
 To mention cold has gripped the entire Kashmir Valley for past over three weeks with temperatures dipping every passing day. On December 11 temperatures recorded were the season’s lowest at -3.8 degrees Celsius in Srinagar.
 People have already started wearing long cloaks and use Kangris to protect themselves from the biting cold.
 Earlier the Kashmir Valley witnessed the coldest night of the winter season on December 1 as the mercury in most parts of the Valley plunged below the freezing point with Pahalgam health resort in south Kashmir recording the minimum temperature of minus 4.7 degrees Celsius. Famous winter sport destination Gulmarg was the second coldest place in the Valley after Pahalgam, recording a low of minus 4.0 degrees Celsius on that day.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 13 Dec 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 13 Dec 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 14 Dec 2010 00:00:00 IST