People prefer traditional firecrackers over green

HYDERABAD: The market for conventional regular firecrackers still predominates despite a majority of dealers professing to sell green firecrackers following the Supreme Court guidelines.

Dealers claimed a majority of customers were unaware of the green firecrackers and preferred the ones they were familiar with. They claimed there was a severe shortage of green firecrackers at Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu, from where the vendors bought their stock.

Sriram Yadav from Langer Houz, who has been in the firecracker business for more than 10 years, said, "People are not aware of green crackers. At the beginning of the season, we purchased 20 per cent green crackers and it was with much struggle that we were able to sell the stock. People did not prefer green crackers although we attempted to educate them.”

Another important factor was the price; green crackers were 50 per cent more expensive than conventional crackers. However, traditional firecrackers were more expensive this year than in 2021. The increased rates and fewer sales would halve their profit margins, vendors said.

A five-year veteran of selling firecrackers, C. Vijay Kumar from Hydershakote, said, "The crackers have got more expensive due to GST, labour costs, and transportation. The price of a sparklers pack has increased from Rs 100 last year to Rs 150 this year.” It was the same with all other categoroes.

Ranjeet Reddy, another wholesaler, stated, "Every year, I buy firecrackers from Guntur and Chilkakuripet in AP. I had to purchase crackers at 20 to 50 per cent  higher cost this year. I had made a 40 per cent profit last year, but it will be just 20 per cent this year.”

The high prices disappointed customers.

Vishnu Priya of Padmashree Hills said she had to purchase crackers for her 12-year-old son who was insistent on buying items of his choice, although the rates were very high.

Some others opted to buy a few fireworks to do their bit to save the environment. M. Shikha bought a few sparkler packets for her six-year-old son and was against using noisy crackers.