Sale of warm clothes has gained momentum in Sylhet as cold weather has been sweeping the region for the last few days. The condition of poor people living at the slums in the city has turned miserable due to dip in mercury. Many trucks and buses were driving slowly with their headlights on to avoid a collision for the reduced visibility in the morning. The office goers also had to wake up late and hurry to their offices. Even, presence at the classes at various educational institutions was also very thin due to cold wave. Even, the sales in the various markets of the city have been declined and the movement of people remained restricted within nearby areas due to bitter cold. With the thriving of cold wave, a number of people in the city are now seen busy the footpath shops for buying warm clothes. This reporter found while visiting in Saturday Bandarbazar area in the city, the shoppers selling second hand clothes that have been drawing a large number of buyers of the middle and the lower income people.  They were now doing brisk business of warm clothes that was dull for long, But suddenly sprung into life after the cold wave started.
Rich people are going to the posh shopping malls in the city to buy warm clothes like sweaters, jackets, cardigans, woolen caps etc. On the other hand, people with low income are crowding the roadside shops to buy second-hand warm clothes to protect themselves from the biting cold. Men and women of any ages are thronging the shops to buy coat, sweater, headgear, muffler, scarf, quilt and wrapper at the advent of cold. Beside this many voluntary organisations started distributing warm clothes to the needy people. A buyer Karima Khatun in Bandarbazar said, “Taking advantage of the sudden rush of buyers, the sellers pushed up the prices of the secondhand warm garments to earn windfall profit.”   However, buyers also seem to be little concerned over high prices. Selim Uddin, a warm cloth seller in Bandarbazaar area said, “We thought that we would not be able to make a good profit this season because of the  winter with no severity of cold.”  ”But the sudden bone- biting cold spell for the last several days here wiped out our fear of dull trading of winter clothes,” he said.  Meanwhile, hundreds of patients being attacked with cold related diseases like allergies, diarrhoea, jaundice, cold, asthma and heart diseases are being admitted to the hospitals of the city with the advent of winter, according to the sources.