Srinagar, March 19 – Despite relentless rain and cold temperatures, shopping continued across Kashmir on Thursday evening for the Eid-ul-Fitr festival.
People were seen braving the weather to purchase bakery items, groceries, meat, and other essentials, as they prepared for the festival.
Temporary stalls selling bakery items, groceries, meat, and poultry have sprung up in both the old city and uptown Srinagar, as buyers and sellers negotiate prices. In a change, people are once again buying warm clothes, as heavy snowfall in the mountains has brought a chill to the valley.
Bakery items, meat, poultry, vegetables, and groceries are the most sought-after items on Eid eve. Meat sellers have increased the price of a kilogram of mutton to Rs 750, with some reports indicating that butchers were selling mutton at Rs 800 per kilogram.
Long queues of people waiting to purchase LPG cylinders were seen in Srinagar city and in every district headquarters in the Valley.
While the administration has warned LPG sellers to avoid creating artificial shortages of cooking gas, people allege that many unscrupulous LPG outlets are harassing consumers under the pretext of short supply.
With every household in J&K now using LPG for cooking, the focus on Eid eve remains on whether a household has enough cooking gas for the festival or not.
Fortunately, petrol and diesel outlets are freely supplying fuel to vehicle owners.
The administration has deployed market checking squads to ensure that the prices of essential goods remain under control, but given the impatience of shoppers on Eid eve, prices seem to be of little consequence as long as people can buy goods to celebrate the festival.
Eid-ul-Fitr is celebrated after the holy month of Ramadan, and Eid prayers are essentially thanksgiving prayers by devout Muslims to express joy and satisfaction after successfully completing the Ramadan fast.
Depending on the sighting of the moon, Eid will be celebrated in J&K tomorrow or the day after.