New Delhi: Since the ban on Crackers this year, the Diwali celebrations seem dull and old Delhi’s busiest markets such as Sadar Bazar, Chandni Chowk, Jama Masjid, Dariba Kalan and Chawri Bazar looked deserted, which last year had public crowded jostling for space on Diwali eve.
The cracker shops remained shut while other traders in different areas of Delhi said their Diwali sales dropped to 30-40% this year due to the cracker ban and since GST the trade was already down and now that demand for other items associated with Diwali celebrations have also dropped.
Speaking of this year’s situation Imran Khan, president of the traders’ association, in Old Delhi’s Meena Bazar, aid, “This market had a stampede-like situation for the entire week preceding Diwali. We could close our shops only around 12 in the night. Tomorrow is Diwali and you can see how deserted the roads are.”
Divyansh Khanna, a trader at Sadar Bazar, one of Delhi’s largest wholesale market, said, “I sell fancy lights but my business was complemented by the sale of crackers as people who came to buy it often ended up purchasing this too. Last year, I earned more than Rs 10,000 on the day before Diwali but this year I have not even been able to sell goods worth Rs 4,000.”
Kailash Khandelwal, Sadar Bazar gold association president, said, “On the day of dhanteras, it might have looked that there are a lot of people in the shop but the purchasing power has dried down. The sales were at least 35% less than what it was last year because the taxes have increased from 1% to 3% on gold.”
Pankaj Sandhu, Lajpat Nagar Central Market association’s secretary who also runs gold business and food outlets, said, “This is the most dull Diwali I have seen in years. If I had 1,000 customers last year, the number would have decreased to 600 this year.”
Ashok Randhawa, Sarojini Nagar mini market association president, said, “This market is known for Diwali shopping. Yesterday, we had some people but today it is worse than a normal day.”