Eid shoppers throng markets in Rajshahi

Eid shoppers started crowding the markets and malls in Rajshahi city yesterday, as soon as the one and half-month lockdown to control spread of coronavirus was relaxed.

However, shop owners at different markets said business was still slow. 

Visiting RDA market, New Market, Laxmipur, Shalbagan and Shaheb Bazar areas, this correspondent saw the markets were busy with shoppers; some of them following health rules, while some were not.

"The number of buyers are few in this gathering," Yasin Ali, a businessperson at RDA market, said.

He said lack of jobs during the lockdown have created financial instability among many, who are avoiding extra expenditures.

Md Raihan, a government employee was browsing through shops at RDA market with his wife and two children.

"We have come to the market to appease the children. We don't have anything to buy," he said.

Asma Akter of Bil Shimla area said she went to New Market to buy some small cosmetic items.

"I have to remain careful as Rajshahi is the hotspot of coronavirus. Still, I had to come out as the markets were closed for more than a month and I needed somethings for my family," she said.

Most shop owners have filled their shops with goods two weeks before the Eid, Yasin Ali said.

"But I doubt if they can sell 25 percent of the goods," he said.

Yasin, also a joint secretary of the market's traders association, said they were trying their best to maintain health rules and help buyers follow safety measures during the shopping.

At Seroil and Bhadra transport hubs, buses were seen leaving for different destinations with passengers.

Trains also reached and left Rajshahi Railway Station yesterday. 

Nuruddin, an employee of a shop, said he took leave to travel to Patuakhali, to spend the Eid holidays with his family.

Local authorities imposed a lockdown from June 3 in Rajshahi when transmission of the coronavirus gripped the communities. The government relaxed the countrywide strict lockdown from yesterday to July 22, mainly surrounding Eid-ul-Azha.