PESHAWAR, Feb 22: A large number of people on Friday thronged the city’s shopping centres and bazaars for the last-minute shopping.

A pause in continuous rain, which lashed the provincial capital on Thursday night and Friday morning, also provided a chance to the people in the afternoon to come out of their homes and visit the shopping centres.

Honking of horns and high-pitched music blaring out of car stereos were the common sight at all the markets in Saddar and other business areas.

Due to huge rush, people were seen pushing and shoving each other to make room for themselves and move forward.   People of all age groups, mostly youngsters, visited the markets to give final touches to their Eid shopping.

Although, during the last week the number of shoppers was not so encouraging but on Friday, the last day before Eid, a traditional Eid rush was witnessed in different markets.

Sweets were being sold like hot cakes. All sweet marts were packed to capacity as people were purchasing sweets in huge quantity.

The entire town appears to be in a festive mood. Vehicles in Saddar, Qissa Khwani, Khyber and Meena bazaars and on University Road, were moving with a snail’s pace. Rush was also witnessed on different eateries.

Apart from sweets, other important commodities which were of attraction to the shoppers were garments, shoes, bangles and henna.

Various shops were tastefully illuminated to attract shoppers and customers.

Rain also helped in bringing down the mercury level which had started soaring during the last couple of days.

  Continuous rain on Thursday night and Friday morning affected the sale and purchase of sacrificial animals.

As the owners of sacrificial animals had not made proper arrangements to cover their animals they faced problems when they were caught unawares.