Cracker ‘gift packs’ in demand
LUCKNOW: The cracker market has come up at the Rastogi Inter College at Aishbagh, but the number of shops is down by over 50% this year.
There were over 60 shops in 2017, but now there are only 32 wholesale shops, said Gulsher Azad of Azad Fireworks.
“Due to strict regulation on sale of crackers and promotion of green crackers, many wholesalers have stayed away from setting up shops,” he said.
On the first day of the market, people preferred to buy cracker ‘gift packs’. “As they contain a variety of crackers, these gift packs from branded companies are gaining popularity,” he added.
Mahesh Gupta of Lucknow Crackers Association said, “The pack of crackers starts from Rs 350 to 650. The small pack has 30 varieties while bigger packs have 40 to 60 varieties.”
The five-colour flower pot is priced at Rs 250, eco-friendly silver rain torch costs Rs 120 per box while the ‘chakar ginnis’ cost Rs 250 per box.
The market is flooded with sky shot boxes of 30 shots, 90 shots, 120 shots and 240 shots.
NUM BER OF SHOPS IS DOWN BY OVER 50% IN AISHBAH THIS YEAR
These shots are available in the range of Rs 350- to Rs 6,000, said traders.
Children are demanding ecofriendly crackers because of the awareness campaigns carried out by some schools, said Mahesh Gupta. He said this year too, the Lucknow Crackers association has decided not to sell Chinese crackers. “We will sell only branded crackers, which have passed all quality tests. We cannot take chances with Chinese crackers as they are untested and not of that quality,” said Satish Mishra, another cracker dealer.