NEW DELHI: Amid the ongoing corona pandemic, the traders in the city are worried as there is very low demand and sale of firecrackers ahead of Diwali. Firecracker factories remained closed due to the pandemic imposed lockdown.
Therefore, their hopes of doing brisk business this year have been dashed. Due to pollution and ban on the sale of conventional firecrackers, the trade has already been severely impacted for the last few years. People celebrate Diwali and Dussehra burning firecrackers, but the demand from them is on the wane now.
Though Diwali is nearly a month away, the supply of firecrackers in the market is much lower this time as compared to last year. Shopkeepers selling green firecrackers last year are sitting idle this time around.
The firecrackers are made at the famed Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu as also in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
Delhi’s Jama Masjid area has a 250-year-old firecracker market. However, this time new varieties of green firecrackers have been made and are available in the market. Green firecrackers reduce pollution by 30 per cent and are more expensive than the conventional firecrackers.
Firecracker trader Amit Jain said, "Due to Covid all factories remained closed and the demand for firecrackers is also low this year as some have been out of work for six months which has adversely impacted the financial condition of the workers in the industry... This year there is only 20 per cent demand for firecrackers and supply is even much lesser."
Rajiv Jain, president of the Delhi Fireworks Traders Association, said, "Every year or the other misfortune befalls firecracker traders just days before Diwali. Should the Explosives Act passed by Parliament be scrapped? The industry works throughout the year, but a ban on firecrackers is imposed 10 days before Diwali while people of all religions are involved in this trade."