COVID-19 impact: Ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi, sale of flowers dip in Karnataka

Shivamogga (Karnataka) [India], August 20 (ANI): Ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi, flower sellers at the popular Shivappa Nayaka wholesale flower market in Shivamogga here said that people had not been keen to buy flowers this year due to COVID-19 restrictions.
"Due to the coronavirus and the restrictions that have come with it, people are not in a festive mood at all and are not showing the same interest as they do under normal circumstances. We hope to make at least a little profit in the next two days during the Gowri Ganesha festival," Gururaj, a flower seller told ANI.

Many flower sellers said that the district administrations restricted the Ganesh Utsav to one day, and their stock of fresh flower garlands was going to waste.
"We have invested a lot to make sure the flower supply for the festival was adequate but no one seems interested. We had prepared to sell the flowers in bulk and there are hundreds of workers in the flower market. We struggled hard for livelihood in lockdown and are hoping that business during this festival season gets us back on our feet," Santosh, another flower seller said.
The 10-day festivities of Ganesh Chaturthi, the birth anniversary of Lord Ganesha, will begin on August 22. The festivities end with the final immersion of the Ganesha idols, called the Visarjan.
The festival is celebrated with much grandeur in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat among other states. (ANI)