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Diwali: Kurali cracker wholesalers stare at another season of losses
Chandigarh has imposed blanket ban on crackers and Punjab government has allowed only a two-hour window on Diwali and Gurpurb
With the Punjab government allowing only a two-hour window for bursting firecrackers on Diwali and Gurpurb and Chandigarh imposing a blanket ban, wholesalers at the region’s biggest cracker market in Kurali are staring at another season of poor sales.
The fear of Covid-19 and ongoing farmers protests are also likely to hit their business, though there might be some improvement from last year. While the sales had dipped by 50% during the festive season in 2020, the traders expect to do at least 60% sales as compared to the pre-pandemic times.
The wholesalers in Kurali supply crackers to Chandigarh, Mohali, Panchkula, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, and various parts of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. They do a business of nearly ₹7 crore every year.
Manik Bathla, a fireworks wholesaler who has been in the business for the last two decades, said: “With just one week left for Diwali, the locals are not coming to buy crackers. We have only buyers from Himachal Pardesh. Even, most of the farmers will not be celebrating Diwali this year due to the protests. People are also scared of Covid-19.”
Bathla said that earlier people used to come one month before Diwali to buy crackers but this year the market is wearing a deserted look.
Another wholesaler, Pankaj Garg, said that this is the second year when the traders will be facing losses. “The Chandigarh administration’s decision to ban bursting of crackers has also hit our business,” he said.
Sundar Lal Manju, president of Kurali Firecracker Dealers’ Association, said there was a slump in the market as retailers were yet to place their orders. “This year small-time businessmen were scared of investing money in this business,” he said.
Meanwhile, deputy superintendent of police Bikramjit Singh Brar held a meeting with the wholesalers and directed them to follow all safety norms. The state government has allowed bursting of only green crackers from 8pm to 10pm on Diwali. Green crackers are environment-friendly as they have low noise, no flame, no harmful pollution-causing chemicals, but emit a lot of light.
