No sparkle for cracker sales at border near Hosur

For two successive years, there has been a dip in sale of crackers in Hosur, Tamil Nadu.

As the border town, about 40 km from the city, supplies crackers at wholesale prices, customers from Bengaluru used to throng the town.

In 2016, there was a decline in sales owing to tension between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over the Cauvery water sharing dispute. Fear of attacks by protesters had kept customers away.

This year, sales were affected due to multiple reasons — excessive rain in Bengaluru, GST and e-commerce, in addition to the growing awareness against bursting crackers.

There are 37 shops right next to the Attibele toll plaza on the service road. Around six to eight youngsters rush to the cars and offer customers 80 to 90% discount. Despite this, the sales are low.

Vijay Sagar Gowda, owner of MNR Firecracker Agency in Attibele, just 100 metres from the Hosur border said, “People from Bengaluru come to Hosur to buy crackers since they are 20 to 30% cheaper here. For the past three years, the cracker business has slumped. Last year, due to the Cauvery issue, Karnataka-registered vehicles were stopped from entering Tamil Nadu and this time, due to heavy rain, there is a dip in sales.”

The sight of many empty cracker shops on the service road on the Tamil Nadu side with “to let” boards, speaks for the poor business.