Used clothes junk Ukhrul town market
Source: The Sangai Express / Mungchan Zimik

Ukhrul, December 22 2017: With the advent of Christmas, the Ukhrul town market is flooded with used clothes popularly known as second hand clothes .

Christian community marks the celebration of Jesus Christ birthday dressed in new clothes and exchanging gifts with their near and dear ones during the week long festival and Ukhrul town main market hub from Viewland to Phungreitang , a stretch of about 2 km, remained crowded by Christmas shoppers in search of new dresses from the second week of December onward .

The roadside vendors sell second hand clothes and as a part of Christmas fair, illegal dice game, card game etc are put up in open public view to entice the people.

Used clothes junk Ukhrul town market

According to one of the second hand clothes agent, the bundle of used clothes are brought in from Myanmar through Moreh town while some are brought from Dimapur, Nagaland.

She said that at least around Rs 3500 are lost while crossing seven check posts from Moreh to Ukhrul .

A shop keeper of Ukhrul town, M Vasha, said that the demand for the used clothes is very high during Christmas season and as the clothes are easily marketted it is a very lucrative business .

He added that irrespective of income, customers spend huge amount of money for Christmas shopping and the goods is available at affordable prices as well .

A woman, P Shaiza said that she has spent more than Rs 10000 for purchasing junk clothes for her children for this year's Christmas celebration.

She said that good looking junk clothes cost at the range of Rs 500 to 700 although those in bad condition (wear and tear) cost Rs 200 or less .

It may be mentioned that as per the norms of country, shipments of used clothing imported in units must be accompanied by a certificate obtained from the exporter regarding disinfection and fumigation by a licensed Agency generated from the State, clearly stating the origin of items or clothings, as regulated by the special Economic Zone (SEZ) Dept.

of Commerce Govt of India .

As per Indian Custom Import, the importer for textile has to follow the procedure Compulsory compliance Requirements (CCRs) that ensure that any items or articles do not contain hazardous dyes .

Although the Ukhrul town market is flooded with junk clothes, the authority have not initiated any measure to check whether the imported clothing available in the district follow the national guidelines for imported used clothes.