Markets, malls remain shut in Ludhiana

Shivani Bhakoo
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, March 26

On the call given by farmer unions, ‘Bharat bandh’ was observed in the city. Malls and markets remained shut till evening and markets presented a deserted look in the absence of customers and vehicles.

The impact of the bandh started showing in the morning when very less number of customers turned up to get vegetables and fruits from the wholesale mandi.

Amarvir Singh, president of the Hotel and Restaurant Association here, said the supply reached on time but the retail buyers were missing. “With the result, the prices of vegetables and fruits came down to half today as supply was more but demand was less”, said Amarvir Singh.

The markets in areas like BRS Nagar, Model Town, Ghumar Mandi, Rajguru Nagar, Dandi Swami, etc, remained shut. Sonu Nilibar from Nilibar, Mall Road, said that all major showrooms on Mall Road were forced to remain shut.

“In support of farmers, the market remained shut as those supporting the farmers made sure that none opened the shop,” said Sonu Nilibar.

Most factories were open in areas like Industrial Area, Focal Point, Sunder Nagar, etc. “To ensure that there is no problem and as a precautionary measure, we had put locks on the gates of the factories from outside. The units were not accessible to visitors today but production remained unaffected,” said Surinder Kumar, a garment manufacturer, Sunder Nagar.