Islamabad :As the winter has finally sets in after the recent rainy spell, lunda bazaars in Islamabad and Rawalpindi have begun attracting people from low-income groups in large numbers. However, most visitors complain about higher prices of secondhand garments, jackets and shoes, mostly imported. Islamabad has these flea markets in H-9, G-6 and I-9 weekly bazaars, while they exist in Rawalpindi's Saddar, Railway Road, Tench Bhatta, Faizabad, Raja Bazaar, Jamia Masjid Road and Hospital Road areas. The visitors complained that vendors had increased goods prices by 30-50 per cent compared with the last winter season. Sanitation worker Shams Boota, a resident of I-9/1 slum area, complained that the lunda bazaars offered the poor people a wide range of used clothes, sweaters, jackets and shoes but their prices were going up fast. He said since the lunda bazaar visitors had limited money, the growing good prices had reduced their purchasing options. Shaista Bibi, a housewife from a Saddar lower middle-class family, also regretted surge in the rates of articles at lunda bazaars and said the decreasing affordability of goods had fast becoming a big issue for people like her. She wanted the administration to ensure 'price control' at flea markets to benefit the poor people. However, vendors blamed the price hike on the higher taxes on imported used goods and said relief in taxes could bring down the goods rates.
