Although the festival of lights is a couple of days away, markets of the city are buzzing with hectic activities as denizens thronged the markets of Sangam city. People were seen purchasing electronic items, garments, consumer products, decorative items, ‘lai’ and ‘lawa’ (puffed rice), rangolis, candles and diyas.
Although the festival of lights is on Sunday, several offices and schools of the city are already witnessing thin attendance.
Shops of all the markets of the city, including Civil Lines, Katra, Chowk, Telirganj, Sulem Sarai, Muttiganj, Kydganj, Khuldabad, Batasa Mandi, Koknath etc are remaining open for late hours and doing brisk business. “Although I am not getting time from my office, my family members have started shopping for Diwali as with each passing day, the rush will increase in the market”, said a 30-year-old management professional Saket Srivastava.
Among several items that are being sold in the market, decorative items, artificial flowers, showpieces, chandeliers etc were picked up by the customers.
People are busy buying firecrackers, sweets, candles and earthen pots. Same was the rush for purchase of electronic items. “Cellphones, microwave ovens, LCD TVs, refrigerators, handycams, laptops are in great demand. As expected we saw a jump in sales,” said Vivek, a salesman of a showroom at Civil Lines.
Similarly, roadside shops offering decorative items like artificial flowers, glow shine items, lamps, decorative ‘jhalar’, bulbs and flowers are selling like hot cakes.
“Although we are having our mid-semester examinations, but we are helping the parents in cleaning the house. There was a heavy rush on the roads and almost every shop that we visited on Sunday”, said a student of Allahabad University, Shashwat. Major markets of the city witnessed traffic jams for several hours. MG Road, Elgin Road of Civil Lines or the market of Katra, all witnessed traffic moving at a snail’s pace.
Meanwhile the police have stepped up vigil in all busy market places in the city to ensure event-free festivities.
Senior police officials have taken to foot patrolling in busy markets to ensure feeling of safety among shoppers in places like Civil lines, Chowk, Katra and Sulemsarai. Police sources said additional personnel were deployed at the markets for crowd control. “We have increased security in the market during the festive season to ensure that no untoward incident takes place,” said an officer. The official also said they were monitoring the situation through CCTV cameras.
The move has evoked a positive response from traders who are happy to see good strength of shoppers.
They said the footfall is increasing with every passing day and will peak in next three days.
“We are happy that markets are seeing heavy rush. There is need to manage crowd. We have appealed senior cops to depute more forces in city markets during the festive period as was done earlier,” said a trader.
“Apart from police, we have also deployed private security guards at the gates of installation during festive season” he added.