GOING to the Ramzan Bazaar must be nothing less than a nightmarish experience, where the government machinery including the price magistrates have failed miserably in ensuring stability in prices and availability of edibles. There is shortage of food items because of the black marketers and the hoarders who have stored the products in order to sell them at a higher price later that has inevitably led to a phenomenal rise in their prices, as much as almost 100 percent. But despite that, another trademark of these special bazaars is that people could be seen in long queues just to get their hands on a sack of flour or a kilo of sugar. And at most places the sight literally resembles that of a refugee camp or a famine-hit country where it is routine for people to fight for food supplies. There have been reports that several people in the crowds fainted or were injured while trying to get their food supplies. The need for the government to oversee the whole process in these markets is obvious. For that, the administrative machinery should be galvanized into action. Conducting raids on the shops that are fleecing the public will prove effective.