Kolkata: Organisers of Bazi Baazars said footfall is at least 20% lower this year compared to last year’s, and most people are buying crackers from local unregulated markets.The price of green crackers sold in the fairs is higher than that of conventional crackers sold by the roadside. Green crackers are more costly to make. Besides, the cost of setting up a Bazi Baazar is recovered from the crackers being sold there, whereas crackers sold by the roadside do not include such costs. People will not buy something at a higher price when they have cheaper, though illegal, alternatives nearer home, said traders at a Bazi Baazar.Unless govt cracks down heavily on all illegal crackers, people will not feel motivated enough to come to the fairs to buy green crackers.“Footfall at the Tala Park fair is about 20% less than last year’s. The sales, too, are lower than last year’s,” said Subhankar Manna, one of the organisers of Tala Park Bazi Baazar. Manna said the price of green crackers sold from Bazi Baazars is more because the technology used in making them is costlier. “All manufacturers must send samples of crackers for testing at a National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) facility to be enrolled in the list of NEERI-approved manufacturers of green crackers. Manufacturers must bear much of the cost incurred in this process,” said a trader.“Why will people come to Bazi Baazar to buy green crackers if they have cheaper varieties available in local markets? Most people do not care about whether they are using green crackers or illegal ones,” said another trader.Santanu Dutta, one of the organisers of the Bazi Baazar at Sahid Minar ground, said he felt the sales from the Sahid Minar fair would be in the range of Rs 1.5 crore this year. The 40 stalls at the fair sold crackers worth Rs 2.5 crore last year. “Only on Diwali eve, which was Saturday evening, we saw good footfall and sales. On most other days, the sales were very low,” said Dutta.Traders also said most of the buyers were people in their 20s, 30s and 40s. “Kids, it seems, are not interested in buying crackers. There are so many campaigns everywhere about the ill effects of crackers that school-going children seem to have shunned firecrackers. At least that is the impression we get from the footfall at Bazi Baazar,” said a trader.
