Deepavali is just around the corner, but the festival of lights has not brought much brightness to firecrackers dealers, who are already predicting that it is not going to be a cracker of a festival this time for them. Firecracker shops in Hosur, Tamil Nadu, where people head to place bulk orders year after year, are already feeling the heat. Chandrashekhar Reddy, proprietor of Sree Narasimha Traders, said the sales this year were at least 10 per cent lesser than last year. He said he had been seeing a downward trend since the last three years. “People who used to buy firecrackers worth Rs. 1 lakh now buy them only for Rs. 10,000. The number of shops have increased, which...
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