Cloth traders face difficult times as sales dwindle amid lockdown

Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, June 5

Small-time traders are facing a tough time amid the Covid outbreak. Already having suffered huge losses due to the two-month lockdown, things are yet to return to normal for them.

Parkash Khurana, owner of Khurana cloth house at Putligarh, said the rush of customers had sharply declined, and only 25 per cent business had recovered after the lockdown.

“We deal in unstitched suits. Most people have postponed marriages and other functions in view of the Covid threat. This has led to a decline in our business. Moreover, people are doing simple marriages and not exchanging much gifts. The Covid has hit our business hard,” he rued.

The Putligarh area is a hub of cloth merchants and used to be one of the favourite destinations among the migrant population for the purchase of dress material.

“Local customers do shopping in the wedding season, but migrants would buy dress material even for routine use. They have returned to their native states. There is less hope about their return”, he added.

He said amid the dwindling sales, it had become difficult for him to pay the rent of shop, taxes, power bill and salary to workers. He said the government should waive their power bills.

About hopes of the revival of business, Khurana said, “It is not that easy. The supply of clothes from Ahmedabad and Surat is disrupted. People are preferring to remain indoors and are venturing out only for buying essential commodities. The business is not expected to revive anytime soon.”