17th November 2015

- News Today

Fireworks fizzle out

Chennai: Though Deepavali was celebrated with traditional fervour in Tamilnadu, rain in the last two days dampened the sale of crackers in the city.

Rajagopalan of Elango Sales Agency says, "Crackers and other fireworks are mostly sold in the last week of Deepavali. Particularly, more than 50 per cent of the sale happens two days before the festival since most of the people get salary, bonus and other financial benefits in the last minute. But, in Chennai, those two days witnessed heavy rain."

He went on explain that rain as such was not the problem, but waterlogging was. "Though the rain stops in a few hours, there is waterlogging in many places. So, most of the customers remained indoors for safety and other reasons. This resulted in big dip in sales."

He said they had bought crackers worth Rs 20,000 but less than 40 per cent was sold. "Since we are retailers, we are left with no option but to continue to offer heavy discounts of 50 to 60 per cent for the next few days to clear the stock," he moaned.

While retailers and distributors faced last-minute loss due to the rain, wholesale agents and shops were the worst affected.

Says Ayyanaar, proprietor of Abhirami Fireworks Agency, "This season, many wholesale agents also set up shops. We must note that agents in wholesale trade make big profits only if sales are high. But two days of heavy rain played havoc with our business. We had stock worth lakhs, but sale was low. So, we are facing heavy loss this time."

Like him, many traders planned to make good revenue and so bought goods at wholesale price directly from firework manufacturers from Sivakasi. "Like me, it is a sad time for them also."

Though the rain stopped for a few hours on Deepavali morning, it was already too late for the traders. Moreover, in some shops, water seepage damaged stocks.

Apart from sales being dull over the past few days, the heavy rain on Sunday dampened the mood of the customers, feel many traders.

Deepavali shoppers faced a harrowing time wading through knee-deep water on busy streets. Apart from the heavy rain and cyclone warning, waterlogging kept customers away from the citys cracker shops.