Ahead of Dasara, rain dampens flower buying

The ongoing rains have dampened the festive shopping ahead of Ayudha Puja and Vijayadashami with flower vendors suffering major losses.

The usual rush at KR Market, Yeshwantpur, Basavanagudi and other traditional business hubs was not seen on Tuesday.

People who did come to the markets were busy purchasing vegetables, especially ash gourd.

The prices of flowers and vegetables go up ahead of Dasara every year and keep rising throughout the two-week long festival, resulting in good business for both vendors and farmers.

The demand for chrysanthemum, marygold, crossandra and rose goes up during Dasara but the rain over the last week has affected their quality. People are not coming forward to buy them now, vendors said.

“Rose has fared comparatively better but the flowers that usually see high demand during the festival are gone,” Diwakar, a vendor at KR Market said, adding that people are reluctant to buy flowers which tend to rot soon.

He noted that the rain damage had occurred when vendors were already struggling due to the pandemic.

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