Bhubaneswar: With the pandemic posing a threat to their livelihood and heavy losses incurred due to Covid-induced lockdowns, florists of the Temple City are finally breathing a sigh of relief. The festive season has brought back smiles to their faces and with the New Year around, they hope to compensate for their losses.
As the state government earlier ordered restrictions regarding visit to religious places to contain Covid spread, business for florists in the city took a nosedive. Moreover, restrictions on intra and inter-state vehicle movements also narrowed down options for those involved in sale and supply of flowers.
“During these last two weeks only, my business has returned to normalcy. At present, I am doing 45 per cent of daily turnover compared to pre-Covid days. The business sees momentum especially during annual Rath Yatra, Raja festival, Ganesh Puja and Dola Purnima,” said Sandeep Sahu, a florist at Unit-II market here. “However, since most of these fell during lockdown periods there was almost no business.”
Mentioning the drop in prices, Sandeep said that since demand has been less compared to previous years, the prices too took a hit. “Marigold which sees the highest demand during the festive season usually shoots up to Rs 80 per kg. However, this year it touched Its 45 at max,” he added.
Furthermore, with the state government still putting restrictions on religious places and public gatherings, traders complained that demand from large temples and other institutions remain by and large nil.
Pradeep Bhuyan, who purveys to organisations such as Iskcon and temples as Lingaraj, said that this year the demand for flowers has remained relatively low with temples not focusing much on decoration.
“Since the lockdown remained in place for more than three months, most of the flower growers were forced to sell their products at throw-away prices. While uncertainty remained during that time, many farmers did not reap their produce for the festive season and as a result, while supply remained less, demand was even lesser,” Pradeep mentioned.
However, with the marriage season ahead and New Year around the corner, the florists are hopeful of a turnaround in the business. Although dearth in supply of exotic flowers still persists in the market, the traders are hopeful of better prospects ahead. “Tulip and Lilly which are usually most in demand for marriage decorations are supplied from states like Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. However, it is unlikely that the demand for these will be the same as earlier while buyers are still unwilling to pay sellers also have been prudent. Hopefully, things will change next year,” said Rakesh Mohanty, a florist here.
Aviral Mishra, OP