Karnataka - Hubli-Dharwad   

People on a shopping spree

Staff Correspondent

Traders do good business in view of Deeepavali and Ramzan

FESTIVE SEASON: A view of the crowded market area around Durgadbail in Hubli on Sunday.

HUBLI: It seemed as though the people of Hubli and surrounding villages were on a shopping spree. The Hubli market witnessed an unprecedented crowd during the last two days, which continued on Sunday.

The reason was simple, two festivals in a week. While Hindus are celebrating Deepavali, the festival of lights with religious fervour, Muslims are waiting to celebrate Ramzan, after a month of fasting.

Bountiful monsoon

But more than that there was another reason — bountiful monsoon. Although last year too the region received good rainfall, the people, especially the villagers around Hubli and Dharwad, were still reluctant to spend much as they were not sure what their fate would be, if they were to face another spell of drought the next year.

But good monsoon (with the exception of a few places in the district which received excess rainfall causing damage to crops), has brought the smile back on the faces of farmers and also merchants and businessmen.

Consequently, Hubli has seen substantial increase in the number of people visiting the city for purchases for the festival.

Traffic chaos

On Friday and Saturday, the traffic police had a difficult time streamlining the traffic. Cars and other vehicles were lined up from Koppikar Road to Broadway, Dajibanpet and Maratha Galli.

The police even prohibited the entry of vehicles around Durgadabail Circle.

Merchants and businessmen did roaring business. But they had reasons to complain. As one shopkeeper put it, with the two festivals being celebrated within a week, they were actually losing a part of their income.

"If the festivals had been celebrated after a gap of a week or fortnight, we would have certainly made good profit. But with the festivals so near, there would be heavy crowd, which actually dissuaded people from waiting for long before a shop to purchase what they wanted," said Vagish Jawali, a textile merchant.

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