Public bemoans as high prices keep buyers at bay

Rawalpindi : It’s not child’s play to buy second-hand sweaters, jackets, and several other woollies because their prices at Lunda Bazaars have doubled this year as compared to last year, thanks to the unstable government in the country which was not taking all public-related issues seriously.

Lunda-Bazaar is a market where traders sell used items including warm clothes, shoes, hosiery, and other stuff, targeting people from the low-income group. ‘Lunda Bazaar’ was a blessing for poor families at the time but now low-income people were coming back empty-handed from ‘Lunda Bazaar’ too due to exorbitant prices.

Muhammad Bashir, a second-hand cloth merchant at Jamia Masjid Road Rawalpindi said that they were buying these used items from Karachi in bulk, and before displaying them for sale they separated good quality and normal quality clothes. He said that most a bundle contains normal quality items, which they charge between Rs500-1000 and there were few better quality items, which fetch them between Rs1300-1500. People while talking to this scribe said that the Lunda Bazaar was the only hope for them during the winter from where they could purchase warm clothes but like other things now they could not afford to buy woollies from Lunda Bazaar too due to high prices this year.

Sana Murad, a housewife said that ‘Lunda Bazaar’ was a blessing for poor families at the time but now we failed to buy even a second-hand sweater from there. A second-hand sweater was selling at Rs1500 to Rs2000 here in ‘Lunda Bazaar’. The price of a new sweater was Rs3000 to Rs5000 which was not affordable for the public but our bosses took this issue in a lighter mood, and she strongly protested.

Naveed Butt, a trader said that with increased rents and increased electricity tariff, he was compelled to increase prices. Talking about the prices of different used items he said that last year a normal used jacket was available at Rs500, a pair of used shoes at Rs800, a pair of socks at Rs20, a sweater at Rs300, and a trouser at Rs150, but this year these items were being sold at Rs600, Rs1200, Rs500 and Rs650 respectively. “I am surprised to see the irresponsible attitude of the present caretaker government. People were paying due to an unstable political set up in the country for over five years,” Shahzad Ahmed, a local citizen said.