Star Report

A sudden rush of people in kitchen markets and a growing number of passengers at inter-district bus terminals in Dhaka was seen after the news of a possible lockdown from Monday onward was announced in the media yesterday.

The Karwan Bazaar kitchen market in the city saw an influx of customers from around 12 noon, which continued till evening. Traders said people were focused on buying sanitizers and daily essential commodities like lintel, sugar, wheat, potato and onion.

“The flow of customers started to increase around one hour after the lockdown was announced. Normally, we don’t see such an influx of customers even before Eid,” said Gorfan, owner of a grocery store in one of the biggest kitchen markets in the city.

He said that he had not even seen such an influx of buyers during the first lockdown in March last year, adding that the rush yesterday was probably a combined effect of three factors -- the beginning of a month, the holy Ramadan just over a week away and the announcement of the lockdown.

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