Onam eve rush grips Thiruvananthapuram as shoppers crowd markets

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state capital on the eve of Thiruvonam witnessed Uthradapachil an unprecedented rush with people thronging the streets for last minute purchases. Traffic at Overbridge, East Fort, Chalai, Pazhavangadi and MG Road intermittently halted with shoppers dominating the streets for buying vegetables to textiles to celebrate Onam. Almost every street leading to Chalai, Palayam and MG Road three popular shopping areas were taken over by shoppers and pedestrians. Many feel that Onam festivities are almost back to normal compared to the previous years which were marred by the Wayanad landslide, pandemic and flood. On Thursday, the Chalai market was seen buzzing with activities from morning itself. Jayakumar P, a vegetable vendor at Chalai Market, said that the business is good. There was no price surge on perishables like last year. We are also getting good sales and the market has been buzzing with customers all day. We are content that people are able to make purchases for Onam without burning a hole in their pockets, said Jayakumar. Sakeer, a wholesale vegetable vendor said the availability of vegetables has helped keep the prices on check this year. The prices of vegetables surge depending on its availability and fortunately, there was no shortage this year, he said. The market intervention by the state government to rein in coconut oil prices has come as a huge relief for families. Vijayamma Y, who came from Sreevaraham to make last minute purchases at Chalai Market, appreciated the effort of the government to slash the coconut oil prices. Normally, the price of vegetables surge during Onam but this year things are different and except for some items we dont feel any additional price rise on perishables this Onam. SupplyCo is selling coconut oil at subsidised rates and that helped a lot to bring down the coconut oil prices. The price before was Rs 550 for 1kg, said Vijayamma. Traders said vegetables prices were further slashed by evening. The whole sale price of raw mango per kg was Rs 140 in the morning, while by evening they slashed the prices to Rs 40. Unlike previous years, there is more crowd at the market, said Badusha K, another vendor. Compared to last year, the price of flowers has also come down. Last year, 1kg of jasmine flower cost around Rs 3,000 and this year we are selling it for Rs 1,500. There is a 50% decline in the prices of flowers. Our customers are happy and we are also content that the flowers are more affordable this year, said Suresh Kumar, a flower merchant.