With just one week left before the Durga Pujas, the <g data-gr-id="20">Mallikghat</g> flower sellers have all pulled up their socks in preparation for the upcoming festive days.
Due to incessant rains in the past few days, the sellers were wondering how the puja preparation would continue but with the rains slowly ceasing, they claimed that the flower supplying services won’t be disrupted.
Considered to be the largest market for flower selling in Asia, the <g data-gr-id="19">Mallikghat</g> bazaar supplies flowers to all the other markets in different parts of the city.
According to Ajay Pratihari, a flower seller who comes all the way from Kolaghat, “ I have been plying my trade in this market for the past 22 years. This year a large portion of my garden was flooded which led to a lot of my flowers getting damaged. I have no idea how much money I can make with the remaining flowers.”
Shambhu Samanta, another flower seller echoed the same thought. “I come all the way from Howrah to sell flowers here but with the incessant rains this year, it has been a very difficult year for the farmers.”
According to the flower traders in <g data-gr-id="21">Mallikghat</g> the Chinese Hibiscus is selling at Rs 350 per kg while a bunch of hundred lotuses are selling at Rs 450-500. The lotuses which are brought from regions like Kolaghat, <g data-gr-id="27">Paskura</g>, <g data-gr-id="28">Deulti</g> and <g data-gr-id="29">Haur</g> needs at least 3 months to harvest. This time due to the rains, the farmers had to keep the flowers in cold storages.