Dengue was prevalent for a majority of the time this year as compared to previous years. Diwali season got a new way for the traders to boost the crackers' sales with this fact.
NEW DELHI: Diwali is still be a few days away but the rush at Sadar Bazaar, the capital's wholesale market for crackers and gift items, is unprecedented. On Friday, the market was filled to the brim and buyers could be seen hopping from one shop to the other for the cheapest deals. Traders said Chinese firecrackers are ruling the roost this year because the price of branded ones has gone up significantly. Also, due to Commonwealth Games wholesale supplies were affected which has led to hike in retail price of crackers.
Colourful crackers carrying stickers like "dengue bhagao patakhe'' are ubiquitous. "The city has reported increased in mosquito-borne diseases like dengue and chikungunya this year. Smoke from firecrackers helps in killing mosquitoes and that is the reason for publicity on these lines,'' said Ramesh Jain, one of the wholesale dealers of crackers. He said the Sadar Bazaar market is the mecca for wholesale dealers and retail shoppers who want to buy firecrackers and a host of gift items including the grocery items and decorative items at discounted prices.
"We come here every year for Diwali shopping. The variety and reasonable prices make it a very good place for Diwali shoppers,'' said Raman Kapoor, a resident of Laxmi Nagar who was buying corporate gifts in one of the wholesale shops. Different varieties of firecrackers are clubbed together for sale as gift items here. "I bought firecrackers worth Rs 4,000 for all hostelmates. We have selected a mixture of both branded crackers, mostly the bombs, sparklers and ground wheel also known as charkha,'' said Nikhil Kumar, a Delhi University student.
Said Radhika, a resident of Dwarka, "We always do our Diwali shopping from here. This time the rush is very heavy. There is no place to walk. It is difficult to bargain. We are thinking of exploring a new market for our shopping as it is impossible to shop here.''
Parking is a big problem for shoppers here. But most of them don't mind. They say they don't mind "small inconveniences'' that to get something reasonably priced at a time when due to inflation price of many commodities have gone up by up to 40%.
Read more: How traders use dengue to fuel sale of firecrackers - The Times of India.