Deficit rainfall, demand supply gap are the reason for increase in prices
Youngsters participate in garba dance organised by Gujarati seva Mandal at R.P. Raod in Secunderabad on second day of Navaratri celebrations. (Photo: R. Pavan)
Warangal/ Hyderabad: Purchasing flowers for Bathukamma is turning out to be a costly affair this year as prices in the city markets have shot up due to the demand supply gap. Banthi (marigold), mandara (hibiscus), chamanthi (chrysanthemum) and other flowers are used extensively for Bathukamma.
At the Chikkadpally market, in Hyderabad, chamanti was selling at Rs 300 a kg, banthi at Rs 100 kg, mallepulu was at Rs 300 a kg and Rs 20 a foot. Traders claimed that deficit rainfall combined with increased demand had led to the increase in prices. Flowers are being imported from other districts and states to meet the demand.
In Warangal, the prices of these flowers skyrocketed this year. Women say that the flowers are being sold at exorbitant rates but since they have to celebrate the festival, they are going ahead and buying even at high prices. “Usually thangedu and gunugu flowers are found on the banks of rivers and small ponds. But this year these flowers are not available because of poor rainfall. We are going into the interior forests to pick these flowers,” said Radhika from Rangashaipet.
“Earlier we used to pluck these flowers from our surroundings but now we have to buy them as these trees are becoming extinct. During previous years, we used to get a good quantity of thangedu flowers for Rs 20 or Rs 30 but now we get only a few stems for the same amount,” said Neelima of Hanamkonda. The price of other varieties like banthi and chamanthi flowers in Warangal is nowhere less than Rs 100 per kg. The situation is the same even in villages though the prices are not as high as in Warangal city.
Clashes Mar Bathukamma festival:
Bathukamma celebrations in the Banjara Hills area led to tension between two groups with each claiming ownership of the temple area, where the celebration is held every year.
While one group locked up the temple, woman from another group broke the lock and entered. Every year, women from the NBT Nagar area in Road no 12 Banjara Hills celebrate Bathukamma at the Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple.
They immerse the Bathukammas in a small pond located in the temple. On Wednesday, when GHMC staff, along with a few women from the locality, came to the temple to clean the premises, members of the Hare Krishna movement objected and locked up the temple, saying that the temple belonged to them and others were not allowed in. Angered by the objection, the woman broke the lock and entered the temple and cleaned the premises.
APNGOs opposes celebration:
Tension prevailed at the APNGOs Home in Gunfoundry on Wednesday after Telangana and AP employees clashed over celebrating Bathukamma festival in the office premises. The APNGOs building continues to be under the control of AP employees though TS employees have been claiming a share. On Wednesday, TS employees, mostly women staff, tried to celebrate Bathukamma, which was opposed by some APNGOs employees. Heated words were exchanged and the police had to be called in to control the situation.
The gates were closed before the TS staff arrived. However, they jumped over the gates and celebrated Bathukamma. Last year, similar scenes were witnessed during Bathukamma when AP and TS staff had clashed. TNGOs claimed that they had got permission from the TS government to celebrate Bathukamma but APNGOs and the police tried to obstruct them. “When AP CM and several of his ministers posed for photographs holding Bathukamma, why should APNGOs have objection to celebrating Bathukamma at APNGOs Home? It is unfortunate that even the TS police tried to obstruct us,” said Mr Goud, TNGOs leader.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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