Flower business in Ghazipur market withers amid corona pandemic  

The early morning hustle and bustle of customers, once the hallmark of the Ghazipur wholesale flower market in Delhi, too has been swept away by the coronavirus pandemic. As a result, business at the market has come to almost a standstill.

Shopkeepers who earlier made a decent living are now able to sell only 25 per cent of their stock as customers are few and far between.

In the absence of sufficient number of customers, shopkeepers in the flower market remain on edge due to the perishable nature of their produce -- most flowers' lifespan is just a day or two, after which they start to wilt and end up in dumps.

There are nearly 411 shops selling flowers and petals that were earlier delivered to every nook and corner of the country.

And the range and types of flowers available were impressive -- lilies, roses, marigolds, orchids, gerberas, carnations, 'rajnigandhas', and more. Not only from various parts of India, the flowers arrived here from as far as Holland, China, and certain South-East Asian countries.

Vinod Kumar, who has been running his flower business for the past seven years, pointed out: "In this market, you will get hundreds of varieties of flowers costing between Re 1 and Rs 30. Prices of several flowers vary, depending on the season."

"Flowers arrive from places like Bengaluru, Nashik, Pune, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh etc. Our business has been tremendously affected due to closure of offices, fewer marriage and other social functions and closure of temples and other holy places."

"Our biggest problem is to sell flowers in within a few hours in the morning -- otherwise they wilt. Every type of flower has a specific lifespan. Flowers such as roses and marigold last only two days, while flowers like 'guldavari' or chrysanthemum and carnations last for four days, daisies for a week, and lilies for 15 days."

Shiv Lal of Uttar Pradesh, who trades in leaves used for decoration in flower arrangements, said: "I have been born and brought up in flower business. But my life has completely changed for the last few months due to the pandemic. I am going through a lot of financial trouble and don't even have enough money to make ends meet."

"In penury, I am unable to even pay the rent of my flower shop, house and can barely fend for my family and afford children's education," he rued.

"I have not earned even Rs 2,000 in the last three months. I do not know of any other trade to switch over to survive."

Another leaf trader Akhilesh Kumar Singh said: "The leaves often dry up in the wind. On September 5, I purchased flowers for Rs 57,000 but could earn only Rs 8,000 in a month while the remaining stock had to be thrown away."

"Many people have not yet returned from their villages, and so almost all shops are closed. In the morning hours, flowers and petals worth lakhs of rupees are dumped here. But who will buy these?" Singh added.

He pointed out that 15 to 20 truckloads of flowers were sent from the Ghazipur market to the Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu and Kashmir every year. "But this year, only two to four trucks have been sent there so far. Unless people throng temples, our flower business will not take off again. Also, till marriages and other social events resume, we are bound to suffer losses. Our losses cannot be made up in the next five years."

Ghazipur flower market Chairman Vijay Singh Sisodia told IANS: "The market has incurred losses to the tune of Rs 75 crore since April 2020. At present, it is recording only 25 per cent of its normal business at 411 shops."

"Our business has been severely hit due to virtually no weddings and closure of temples. On Navratri and Diwali festive seasons, our business may grow -- by how much, that remains to be seen," he said.