This Sankranti fest, fewer kites to dot city skyline

Hyderabad: Although there are hardly a few days left for Sankranti, the hustle and bustle among the kite traders is missing. This year, shortage of kites has hit the markets when compared to last year, due to less production of kite-making materials.

For the past several years, the harvest festival has been providing seasonal livelihood to several craftsmen engaged in making kites and manja but this year, several markets including at Dhoolpet, Begum Bazar, Gulzar Houz and Secunderabad are wearing a deserted look due to shortage in various kite-making materials that include bamboo, plastic, among others.

A few traders have pointed out that kite traders of Dhoolpet and Mangalhat make paper kites for a living but this year due to less availability of paper and bamboo, they made kites in fewer numbers.

“This year I could not stock up a good variety of kites due to shortage of bamboo sticks that are used in making the frame of a kite and also over shortage of plastic. Usually we transport kite-making material from Kanpur, Vadodara and Ahmedabad”, said Suresh Yadav, a kite trader from Secunderabad.

“The kites give a resplendent look and add beauty to the environs. Despite of shortage, prices are economical – plastic kites cost up to Rs 5 while traditional paper ones are available from Re 1 to Rs 1,000 as per the size; manja charak varies between Rs 150 and Rs 1,200.

Even this year, we have received good orders but due to less stock, we fear that we will not be able to fulfil the demand,” said Mohit Singh, a trader from Dhoolpet.