Hyderabad: Despite Makar Sankranti being celebrated on Thursday, there has been a steep fall in the sales of flowers and other festive products including colours for Rangoli in various local markets of Hyderabad on Wednesday due to pandemic.
Kavita, a flower vendor who has been selling flowers for the last 35 years, told ANI, “Every year, during this peak time a day before Sankranti, we would have a huge demand for flowers and other festival products. But this year, due to the pandemic, the sales have completely gone down. Earlier we used to sell the whole stock before the festival and would make a profit of around Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000, but this year we are not even been able to sell half of the stock.”
Further she said, “Even the people are not coming forward to buy flowers like before. Though some people are coming out, but they are not buying in bulk.”
Another flower vendor, Yuvaraj said, “If only people come forward to buy flowers, only then we can earn our living or else it becomes really hard for us.”
Makara Sankranti or Maghi, is a festival day in the Hindu calendar, in reference to deity Surya. The day marks the first day of the sun’s transit into the Makara, marking the end of the month with the winter solstice and the start of longer days.
