Firecracker sales take a beating in city

Firecracker sales have come down by around 30% in the city, thanks to the increased awareness among public on the ill-effects of bursting crackers.

Educational institutions, non-governmental organisations and residents’ welfare associations are taking up anti-firecracker campaigns sensitising people to environmental damage caused by crackers. Moreover, there had been a decline in the supplies this year. Most of the firecracker dealers in the state get the stock from Tamil Nadu.

Gopinath M, who sells firecrackers in Jayanagar, said that sales had come down drastically this year. “I used to get at least 200 customers per day, but this time it’s not even 50.” Krishnamurthy A M, a trader at Shivajinagar, too echoed similar opinion.

In a recent survey conducted by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), traders attributed poor sales mainly to anti-firecracker campaigns.

A majority of the 250 firecracker traders with whom the Assocham representatives interacted, said that rising cost of living, growing trend among people to save money and paucity of time have also dented the cracker business over the years. The survey was conducted in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chennai, Dehradun, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Lucknow and Mumbai.