Business bandh at Shilparamam!

The brass and white idols, Kondapalli and other wooden toys available in Shilparamam are a shopper’s delight, particularly so during the Dasara festival as people display dolls, toys and idols at their homes as part of the Navratri celebrations. This year, however, the celebrations seem muted and Shilparamam hasn’t seen its regular shoppers.No wonder, shopkeepers are complaining of heavy losses.Officials have announced an All India Dasara Crafts Mela at Shilparamam from September 28 to October 9 and put up 350 stalls of artisans from different states. Public response to the mela has been minimal.Speaking to City Express, Venkateswarlu, senior assistant, Shilparamam, said that on a normal day, they usually receive around 2,000 visitors. “But this comes down by 25 per cent whenever there is bandh call,” he said.The shop owners attribute their losses to frequent bandhs and strikes. Lalitha, who has been running a saree stall on the premises for the past five years, says, “I spend around Rs 1000 per day to keep the shop going. We have to pay exorbitant auto fare to reach here with our ware. Once here, we sit and wait for customers. It is now 3 pm and I haven’t received a single customer since morning. On other days, there would have been at least 10 customers by now.”The shopkeepers have paid Rs 6,700 each as rent for the 10-day mela. Vikas Kumar, another shopkeeper, has a similar tale to tell. He has also been waiting since morning and not a single customer has dropped by while normally, he receives about 100 every day.“Two years ago, the business used to be good. Now, it has declined. Bandhs and strikes are the primary reasons and price hike is another factor. People cannot afford to buy any more,” he points out.The shopkeepers say that even the IT crowd has dwindled. Earlier, there were people who would buy things for even Rs 15000. Now Rs 2000 business from a customer can be considered as the highest, they say. One of the artisans, who has been a part of Shilparamam for 4 years, says Navaratri this year is lacklustre.“Quite a few customers shop every year for Dasara. This year, not even a fraction of the number has turned up,” he laments. He feels a mela is of no help.“The entry price has gone up to Rs 25 and even children are being charged. Why would anyone spend so much to enter a handicrafts bazar?” he asks.All of them, though, are optimistic that ahead of Dasara, the business will pick up.