Denizens commence Diwali purchases

Hyderabad: City denizens on Wednesday commenced their purchases, including crackers, for the Diwali festival although it is four days away. They went round shops in the busy areas such as Madhapur, Kukatpally, Ameerpet, Punjagutta, Abids, General Bazar, Secunderabad, Koti, Himayatnagar, Malakpet, Dilsukhnagar, Vanasthalipuram for buying clothes, sweets, household items.

Traders dealing in crackers told The Hans India that they were experiencing a 25 per cent fall in sales obviously because of high prices. They contend that the RTC strike also affected the sales, as people from far-off places are unable to go to Begum Bazaar and other areas for making purchases of crackers because frequent non-availability of buses to travel in the twin cities.

The traders maintained that green crackers were available with them, pointing out they would not cause any damage to the environment. The traders also claimed that they have been boycotting Chinese crackers because of the ban imposed by the Supreme Court and that they were selling only the local variety.