Mumbai:
Dahi Handi, a pageant synonymous with Mumbai – the individuals, high-voltage power and Bollywood – just isn’t being celebrated this yr. The necessity to preserve security amid the coronavirus pandemic implies that not solely will the temper within the Maharashtra capital stay somber for one in all its largest festivals, a spread of small companies that depend upon revelry for a piece of their revenue will even be hit onerous.
Yearly, till this yr, younger women and men throughout age teams have shaped human pyramids to interrupt earthen pots for an opportunity to win fats money prizes on Dahi Handi after Janamashtami. The spectacle attracts hundreds, together with movie stars, out of their houses.
Right now, nevertheless, roughly 1,200 Dahi Handi organisers throughout Mumbai have determined to not rejoice the pageant. The government has also appealed to individuals to keep away from any exercise that will lead to crowding.
“On account of coronavirus, that is the primary time that there’s a restriction on Dahi Handi. So, a month again, our coach determined to not rejoice the pageant due to social distancing,” Akash Kasrekar of the Jai Jawan Govinda Pathak – the group which received the received the Dahi Handi competitors final yr, instructed NDTV.
No celebration additionally means no purchasing, and this has hit companies onerous.
In Dharavi’s Kumbharwada, a settlement of potters, the principle enterprise of practically 550 households is making and promoting earthen pots. For them, Dahi Handi is normally the perfect time of the yr for enterprise, however this yr they’re struggling heavy losses.
Most households have suffered losses upwards of Rs 30,000. They are saying enterprise from different avenues can be slim.
The households right here at the moment are pinning their hopes on Diwali, hoping the pageant of lights would deliver them some cheer.
Apart from potters, different even smaller companies have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and the security measures taken to include it.
With none apart from important service suppliers allowed to journey within the native trains, the gang of consumers on the Dadar market is gone. Cancellation of festivities additionally saved individuals away, leaving the small shopkeepers with no enterprise, and cash.
They mentioned that their enterprise has gone down by a minimum of 80% this yr.
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