Flea markets feel the chill of soaring costs

As winter sets in, makeshift stalls brimming with jackets, coats, and sweaters have appeared across the city. In Rawalpindi's three main "Lunda Bazaars" — Jamia Masjid Road, Raja Bazaar, and Saddar Railway Road — crowds of shoppers are flocking in search of second-hand winter wear, once a lifeline for the poor and lower-middle classes.

Yet the government's recent imposition of customs duties and new taxes on imported second-hand clothing has pushed prices sharply upwards - in some cases by as much as 50 per cent compared with last year.

Wholesale traders have already brought in large consignments of used garments from Karachi, which are now being unpacked for sale. Families from Azad Kashmir, Abbottabad, Hazara, and other parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) are travelling to Rawalpindi to stock up on winter clothing. But what was once an affordable option is now slipping beyond reach.

From morning until night, Jamia Masjid Road, Raja Bazaar, Saddar Railway Station Road, and Transit Camp Chowk have become congested hubs of second-hand clothing, their heavy footfall throwing traffic into complete disarray.

Children's sweaters are available in Rs 1,500-2,200, children's jackets Rs2,500-4,000, warm socks Rs80-150 per pair, children's shoes Rs 2,000-3,000, scarves Rs150, woollen hats Rs 100-200, girls' shawls Rs1,800-2,500, children's coats Rs3,000, men's sweaters Rs2,000-3,500, men's jackets Rs4,000-5,000, men's coats Rs3,500-8,000, long overcoats (men's and women's) Rs7,000, women's sweaters Rs1,500-3,500, women's jackets Rs4,000, women's shawls Rs2,000-3,000, women's caps Rs200-300, and women's warm chadar (shawl) are being sold at Rs2,500-5,000.

Rainwear has also grown more expensive, with small raincoats now selling for Rs1,500, larger ones for Rs2,000, small umbrellas for Rs600-1,200, and large umbrellas for up to Rs2,000. Even so, these prices remain 30-50 per cent lower than those at major retail shops.

Such is the squeeze on household budgets that even the wives of senior officials are said to be parking discreetly at a distance before slipping into the bazaar to buy sweaters, jackets, socks, coats, and shawls.

Fayyaz Abbasi, a trader at Jamia Masjid Road's Lunda Bazaar, explained: "This year we've had to pay customs duty and taxes on every bale of clothing imported from abroad.

Transport costs from Karachi to Rawalpindi have also risen by 50-60 per cent compared to last year. We had no choice but to raise our prices.

The best-quality sweaters, coats, and shawls are now sold separately at almost the same rates as new shops."

Samina Begum, a weary customer, said, "Even breathing is becoming difficult with all this smog. Now even Lunda clothes are beyond our reach - where is a poor person supposed to go? Surviving itself is becoming impossible."