Cyclones, split hit traders

Vijayawada: Traders of Vijayawada city had a disappointing New Year due to the lukewarm response from buyers.

New Year is the one of the important seasons of sales in the city, with new clothes, footwear, mobile handsets, jewellery and other products sold briskly.

Traditionally, the traders give bulk orders hoping brisk sales in the festive season.

However, this year, the trading activity could at best be described as lacklustre in the city, the main reason being that both the employees and the traders do not have sufficient money to celebrate the New Year.

Salaries of more than 20,000 state government employees and local bodies in the city were delayed due to the Samaikyandhra agitation, which effectively hit the business community.

Cyclones and heavy rains badly hit the farming community in the district in October and November, and rural people stopped purchases.

Rural consumers account for more than 50 per cent of buyers in Vijayawada city.

The harvest season has just started and it will take some more weeks for the farming community to get some income from the sale of paddy and other crops.

All these factors have had their toll on the trading activity in the city.

Ch. Raghuram, a textile trader, said that the shop owners are a disappointed lot this year. “Rotation of money has been stalled in the city and the district due to cyclones, heavy rains and Samaikyandhra agitation,” he said.

K. Subramanyam proprietor of a bakery near Vijaya Talkies, Eluru road said even the sale of cakes and sweets declined this year compared to last year.

Sales of electronic goods, footwear, jewellery items and mobile handsets also declined this year compared to the previous year.