Visakhapatnam: Markets witness frenzied activity

Visakhapatnam: Twigs of mango leaves, neem flowers, fruits, garlands, coconuts, raw mangoes and several others find a place in the shopping bags. There's something exciting and auspicious about Ugadi shopping. After two years of lull due to the Covid-19 pandemic, people brace for grand celebrations this year. On Friday, markets witnessed a frenzied activity as many stuffed their shopping bags with Ugadi essentials.

And they included a list of mandatory supplies such as jaggery, tamarind, sugar, fresh fruits and vegetables. However, the rate of the puja items and other essential supplies has almost doubled up. From raw mangoes to neem flowers and fresh flowers, the cost has increased exorbitantly at a number of places. Keeping the festival rush in view, roadside vendors cash in on the last minute purchase. While a kg of raw mangoes was sold at Rs 50, flowers at Rs 280 per kg, a coconut at Rs 20, a small bunch of neem flowers at Rs 10 in Rythu Bazaars, the same were being sold for double the rate by the roadside vendors. Of all, flowers turned out to be quite expensive. With this, many queued up at Rythu Bazaars to minimise their festival budget to the extent possible. Since only some of the Rythu Bazaars remained open in the evenings, a majority of the last-minute shoppers was left with no other choice than to depend on the retail outlets and roadside vendors for the festival supplies which had cost them dearly. Markets at Gopalapatnam, Seethammadhara, Marripalem, Kancharapalem, Gajuwaka and Poorna Market witnessed heavy rush in the evening. This has resulted in traffic bottlenecks at several junctions.