Kozhikode: Popularly known as the festival of happiness and prosperity, Vishu does not seem to do it for local vendors. The textiles, vegetables, sweets and flower markets do not find many customers this year, whereas the firecracker manufacturing units are able to have a huge number of customers as the Goods and Services Tax does not have much impact on the price. The vegetable market has collapsed this year compared to last year as there has been a price hike.
The only variety in the vishu market is the hybrid cucumber or kani vellari which sells for Rs 60. Most of the local vegetable vendors have lost their space inside S.M. Street which has also reduced their average number of customers. Vishu mela is on in many parts of the city benefitting the common people in getting access to materials required for arranging ‘Vishu kani’. An advanced collection of the idols of Lord Krishna, Aranmula mirrors, pellets and lampstands have been displayed in the mela taking place at the Kairali showroom of Hotel Malabar Palace, the marketing centre of the Kerala State Handicrafts Development Corporation.
Idols made of pulp, marble powder, fibre, metal, and wood adorn the mela ranging from a price of Rs 400 to Rs 10,000 and the Aranmula mirrors range from Rs 2200 to Rs 15,000. The mela will be conducted until April 14 from 10 am to 7:30 pm. “We are on the verge of collapse for the last few years. People rely on huge shopping malls to get branded clothes,” said a local cloth merchant at S.M. Street. At the same time, the sweet vendors say that after the renovation of S.M. Street, it has more tourists and the ‘Halwas’ are getting popular even although people no longer buy it from local shops but from large shopping sites.
According to the firecracker vendors, the only business flourishing in the market is of fireworks. There are long lines of people in front of wholesale and retail shops. Considering the safety of people, firework factories have come up with varieties which reduce noise and air pollution. “Chinese fireworks are in great demand as they create less noise and air pollution,” said Baby Girija, a fireworks dealer in Kozhikode. GST also has negligible impact on the firework industry.
