TRADERS, BUSINESSMEN FACE LOSSES AS STATE CANCELS ANNUAL FAIR

Traders who came from various parts of the country to put up stalls in the

81st All India Industrial Exhibition were on Thursday distraught with the indefinite cancellation of the ‘Numaish’. A majority of traders were planning to set up stalls by January 10, when the exhibition was to resume as it was put on hold after its inauguration on January

1. The businessmen, many of whom solely rely on sales during Numaish, termed the cancellation a ‘tragedy’ as it caused massive losses.

Tayib Basheer, a third generation trader from Kashmir whose family had been selling dry fruits at Numaish since 1965, said the unexpected cancellation incurred him a loss of about `20 lakh. “This is the only exhibition in the country where we sell our products,” he said, adding that each of the 50 dry fruit traders from across the country incurred big losses due to the cancellation.

A teary-eyed cloth merchant from Srinagar, Imran Hussain, said he incurred a loss of `4 lakh. “We would not have come all the way here along with family, had the organisers informed us there was a chance of cancellation. We had paid the hotel accommodation charges for two months.” He added that he would have to face double transportation charges now. “I have nine workers along with my family. Hard work of an entire year has gone wasted,” he said.

Saeed Parvez Ahmed, a food technologist from Kashmir, said when the malls were open and people were thronging to busy areas like Begum Bazaar, the Covid protocols could have easily been maintained at the grounds here.