Dhaka Residents Have Returned to the City’s Markets to Shop for Eid

Ekramul Haque Azim 27 April 2022

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Dhaka residents have returned to the city’s markets to shop for Eid, following two years of restrictions caused by the global health crisis.

Dhaka residents have returned to the city’s markets to shop for Eid, following two years of restrictions caused by the global health crisis pic.twitter.com/65iUSCPPYb

— Reuters (@Reuters) April 26, 2022

All the markets and shopping complexes were so crowded with buyers in the afternoon and evening that there was no way to move comfortably in and around the markets. The shopping spree went on until late into night.

The shopkeepers said buyers prefer to shop on weekly holidays than on any other day during the month of Ramadan.

In the last two years, the shopkeepers could not sell as per their expectations due to various restrictions imposed by the government to contain the Covid pandemic. But this year, there is a lot of relief in the minds of the shopkeepers as the government has lifted all the pandemic restrictions, paving the way for satisfactory sales after a long time.

The sales are good as job holders have already got their salaries. Moreover, there is no restriction on public gathering now, said the shopkeepers.

Due to the large number of buyers, long traffic jams were created on the roads in front of different shopping centres including New Market, Chandni Chowk, Gausia Market, Noor Mansion, Chandrima Market, Bashundhara City Shopping Complex, Motaleb Plaza and Eastern Plaza. Even the pedestrians could not walk comfortably on the pavements crammed with an overwhelming number of shoppers.

Rukaiya Islam also came to Bashundhara Shopping Mall for Eid shopping with her two young sons and daughters. “I did some shopping today to avoid the heavy crowd before the Eid. But the crowd is not less even today,” she said.

Mohammad Fahim, a salesman at Bashundhara Shopping Mall’s Lubana Punjabi House, told , “Sales of Panjabi are satisfactory. Hopefully, the sales will continue to rise in the remaining days before Eid.”

Suresh Rana, manager at a stall at Bashundhara Shopping Complex, said, “I hope the Eid sales will grow even more in the following weeks. Compared to last two years, the sale is satisfactory so far.”

Nizam Uddin, president of the Chandni Chowk Shop Owners’ Association, told that wholesale sales were still not that much, but it would increase further. “However, the retail sales have already gained momentum. The traders are getting a much better response this year than in the past two years, despite the price hike of all the daily essentials. Hopefully, Eid sales will be satisfactory this year,” he added.