Inflation’s toll at Mahakumbh - few buyers for handicrafts

HARIDWAR - The banks of the holy Ganga here are teeming with hundreds of thousands of pilgrims for the Mahakumbh Mela, but very few among them are interested in buying any of Haridwar’s brassware, silverware, woollen clothes or textiles. The shrinking money market appears to have tightened the wallets of the devout.

Tourists - especially the pilgrims who are flocking to the temple town for the fair - have little money to spare for local crafts, complain shopkeepers and traders in the city. Even locally-made shawls and scarves, priced at between Rs.60 to Rs.150, have few buyers.

“The Mahakumbh Mela is not having much of a positive impact on the economy. Pilgrims and foreign tourists have been trickling in for over a month but no one is interested in buying anything. This is a strange phenomenon, given that they are willing to spend on food and hotels,” Sri Bhagwan, owner of Maheshwari, a handicrafts shop selling metal and wood ware, told IANS in the Haridwar main market.

Business has slumped by as much 50 percent in the local markets over the last two years since the recessionary trend made itself visible in India.

“It is a converse phenomenon. The tourist flow has increased by 30 percent in the last year, but the volume of trade in local crafts in general has declined by at least 50 percent. Tourists are unwilling to pay even Rs.60 for a woollen or khadi shawl,” Anil Agarwal, owner of Agarwal Khadi Bhandar, a traditional textile shop at Moti Bazar, told IANS. Goods at his shop are priced between Rs.60 to Rs.250.

However, Agarwal felt that business might pick up after Feb 12, when the ’shahi snans’ or the royal baths begin.

Ashok Kumar, whose shop, Achar Bhandar, sells almost every conceivable variety of pickles - from pickled peas, bitter gourds, mango, green and red chillies, jackfruit and garlic - attributes the low purchasing power to the short duration of the trips.

“Pilgrims and tourists visit Haridwar for a day or two on tight budgets. Sight-seeing and spirituality top their agenda. Shopping does not figure on their list of activities,” he said.

Kumar’s shop, a favourite with foreign tourists, has not been drawing enough foreigners. “The foreign pilgrims are more interested in observing religious rites. Unlike a decade ago, they do not splurge in local Indian handicrafts and indigenous goods any more,” Kumar told IANS.

One of the reasons for the tardy flow of business in the ongoing Mahakumbh Mela is restricted entry to the markets. “People are being herded out of the banks after bathing. The approach roads to the markets have been barricaded and visitors to the markets are being screened. The tight security arrangement has put off foreign tourists and pilgrims,” Ajay Sardana, owner of a sweetmeat shop in Moti Bazaar, told IANS. Sardana, a local resident, has been in business for 40 years.

“I am worried that the pilgrims are being diverted. The police have closed the roads. We have stocked up our shops for the Mahakumbh Mela, but for the past month we have sitting idle. The high rate of inflation has drained cash from the market. Shoppers are not even willing to spend Rs.100 for a woollen scarf or blanket - which are woven by local craftsmen,” Ram Kumar, the owner of Silk Variety Store in Moti Bazar, told IANS.

Kumar, who hails from a family of traders, sells ethnic silks, wool and cotton textiles.

Painting a bleak picture of the market, Vicky Chauhan, owner of Shri Radha Krishna Handloom and Handicrafts Store, said: “Only five or six people out of every 1,000 visitors to my shop have been buying everyday.” Chauhan sells both handlooms and handicrafts.

“The sales have plummeted. The meltdown has changed lifestyles of foreign tourists visiting India, who are our biggest buyers, for the last one year. They lead simple lives and spend only on food and board. They have almost stopped shopping because their purchasing power has dwindled,” Chauhan told IANS.