Traders associated with the firecracker business are apprehensive about a dip in sales during Kali Puja and Diwali this year as they believe people are unwilling to spend whatever little money they have, and there is short supply of the crackers due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The fate of the popular ‘Baazi Bazaar’ (firecracker market), which is being held in Siliguri since 2013, is uncertain this year, they said. “People are having a very tough time since the past seven months. It may be difficult for them to spend money on firecrackers. Firecracker manufacturing units were also closed for some months, and that is why there is a lukewarm response in the supply part this year. We have received around 25 percent firecrackers from suppliers in Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu, the biggest manufacturing hub in the country, and Kolkata, which is very minimal. Under such circumstances, we are not very hopeful about the business,” said the president of the Siliguri Fireworks Association, Abhijit Ghosh.
There are around 500 traders in Siliguri town associated with the business. Mr Ghosh said the supply of firecrackers was 100 percent until last year.
“We did good business despite the economic slowdown on Kali Puja and Diwali, after a lull in Durga Puja last year, but this time we do not have enough stock. It will be satisfactory if the 25 percent stocks are sold out, but we are not sure about the buying trend among the people. We are keeping our fingers crossed,” he added.
The twin occasions when people burst firecrackers fall on 14 November this year. Meanwhile, health specialists said the pandemic had made it more necessary that people should discourage others too from bursting firecrackers this year.
They said indiscriminate bursting of firecrackers will make people more vulnerable to infections in the midst of the Covid19 crisis.