Russell Market to open its doors early today

Strike or no strike, it will be business as usual for most of the vendors of Russell Market, but with a difference—shops will be opened before the crack of dawn.The two-day national strike that is likely to leave the roads empty on Wednesday and Thursday will not deter the functioning of Russell Market, said Mohammed Idrees Choudhury, general secretary of Russell Market Traders’ Association.“Usually at Russell Market, farmers come and deliver their goods about 1pm. However, the strike will make it hard to keep the market functioning at the regular time. Therefore, we will be opening the market about 5 am for the farmers to come with their items,” he said.One of the reasons behind the market functioning is due to its commitments to various hotels in and around the city. “For one thing, many farmers depend on the wares sold at the market and they have perishables like tomatoes that will be useless the next day. So, we need to sell them that very day itself. Another reason is that we sell vegetables and fruits to many five-star hotels and several other hostels in the city. We will be supplying to them as usual, only much earlier than expected,” he added.As for whether the market will function for the rest of the day, Chaudhury said it was still up in the air. “We will assess the situation around noon and see if we will be able to keep the shops open for the rest of the days. There are many offers right now but the main focus is to get the items from the farmers. The rest we can assess later,” he added.So, those who have yet to stock up on groceries, better hit the road early today.@DNA