Mysuru: Even as Gowri-Ganesha festival is just a day away, the saree frenzy suddenly began this morning as hundreds of women queued up in front of Karnataka Silk Industries Corporation (KSIC) showroom opposite Mysuru Zoo to purchase the highly-discounted silk sarees. This is the only outlet in city where the sale is on and will end this evening.

Every woman cherishes having the famous Mysore Silk saree in her collection. Sericulture Minister S.R. Mahesh had announced that silk sarees which usually costs anywhere between Rs.8,000 and Rs.12,000 would be sold for Rs.4,500 during Varamahalakshmi festival.

However, the model code of conduct came into force for MCC elections and the discounted sale of sarees was postponed. Surprisingly, after the elections, no official announcement of the coveted saree sale was made and this morning, news spread that today was the special day and people started queuing up near the KSIC showroom from 10.30 am onwards.

Since it was a sudden sale, people came to know of the various conditions imposed by the KSIC only as they stood in line.

For instance, in Mysuru only 1,500 sarees are on sale and they came in just five colours. Also, only women were allowed to buy and they could purchase only one saree per person, that too after registering with their Aadhaar card. By 12 noon nearly 300 people had registered.

KSIC General Manager Krishnappa speaking to Star of Mysore here this morning said that in all only 5,000 zari silk sarees had been manufactured for Varamahalakshmi fest (Aug.24).

Out of this, Mysuru is given 1,500, the highest number of sarees whereas the other KSIC outlets in Bengaluru, Channapatna, Davangere and Belagavi will be distributed anywhere between 750 to 1,000 sarees. The sale is going on simultaneously in all the outlets and it will end today itself, he said.

The sale is likely to begin only after 3 pm on the arrival of the CM and the Sericulture Minister, he said and added that once the registration touches 1,500, the issuance of token will be stopped.

Asked how much the original price of the saree was, a few of the officials said that it could range between Rs.8,000 and Rs.12,000. However, the final price of the saree including 5 per cent tax (Rs.4,500+Rs.250) will be Rs.4,750.

Meanwhile, the queue kept growing and it had extended right up to the Devaraja Urs Wrestling arena near Dasara Exhibition Grounds. Tight Police security was provided with the Police personnel keeping a close watch to see that no untoward incidents occurred.

All for a Mysore Silk Saree !

Even as the registration was going on, women with babies in arms and even men were seen standing (on behalf of women) in line to collect their saree. However, their wait was going to be a long one as the KSIC officials were informed that Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy would come to distribute sarees only after 3 pm. Even after this information was passed on to the people standing in line, they refused to budge and said that they would wait as they did not want to miss out on choosing the saree of their choice which they feared would run out.