Diwali spirit yet to pick up

Hyderabad: Diwali is fast approaching and the cracker stalls are not set up in the city yet. Each year, the stalls are set up a week earlier to the festival; however, this year many owners have not received the licence. The Telangana Crackers Association claim that by Tuesday, the stalls will be set up.

Begum Bazar, Sanathnagar, Kukatpally, Malakpet, Paradise and Panjagutta usually set up stalls a week ahead of festival. But this year, due to continuous rainfall for the past ten days, cracker stalls have not been set up. Several stall owners said that they would set up stalls two days prior to Diwali as they found minimal demand. Few got the licences and others are still waiting for the approval from the authorities.

S Viran from Upperguda, Malkajgiri said, ``Since four years, I am into this business and I have not received the licence. Once it is approved, I will set up a stall within three days".

Viran said that he would purchase only limited stock due to less demand this year when compared to the last year. G Balaraj Reddy from Sanathnagar said, ``We need to pay goods and services tax (GST) at 28 per cent for crackers. Last year, 30 per cent stock was left unsold. So, I just bought additional 30 per cent. The craze for crackers has reduced among the citizens.”

Shaik Ibrahim from Telangana President for the Association said, ``From Tuesday morning the stalls will be ready for the customers, the stall owner has paid Rs 25,000- Rs 30,000. We accommodate them with power, shelter to the owners. Many youths get employment with this festival and there 60 stalls in this area.” ``

In order to get temporary (four-day) licence, the stall owners have to pay Rs 5,000 to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation. In addition, they have to pay Rs 1,000 to police department and Rs 500 to Fire safety department to get no objection certificate (NOCs),’’ he added.