Rain, price rise put a dampener on Eid shopping

With Eid-ul-Fitar just round the corner the markets in Dehradun were seen extra packed on Wednesday as everyone is busy preparing for Eid.

Even though the markets are crowded both the shopkeepers and the customers sounded unhappy. According to the shopkeepers, the market is witnessing a downward trend.

“The whole market is crowded because of Eid but this is nothing as compared to last year,” said Sanjay, a shopkeeper.Regular rainfall for the past few days is also a major cause for the dampened spirits of the market. “We were hoping that it would look up with the arrival of Eid. But things are still depressing,” he added.

When the customers were asked about their shopping experience they too sounded sour with prices of sweets spiraling.“last year we purchased Ghevar for `300 per kg, This year it has risen considerably to `480. The shopkeepers  fleece us, taking advantage of the  festivities,”  said Rashid, a customer from Dalanwala. He also informed about the rise in prices of other sweets. “There is a difference of about `80 to `100 in most of the regular sweets. Rasgulla was sold previously for `280. Now it is as high as  `360,” he added.When a sweet shop owner was asked to explain the steep hike in prices he said, “Customers are grumbling about the rise in prices. But we cannot help it. We cannot afford to incur losses.”

“Sevai is being sold for Rs 300 per kg. If we compare it to last year’s prices there is an increase of just Rs 20-30 at most of the shops. This is 

natural, given the inflationary trends of the  markets,” he added.