: The Bhavani Ghat at Bhavanipuram is getting ready to host firecrackers stalls ahead of Diwali to be celebrated at the end of the month.
The venue on the bank of the Krishna river will have 103 stalls which were already allotted to the traders who came forward to sell crackers.
This year, due to selection of the venue at Bhavanipuram which is not easily accessible to a majority of citizens, only 106 traders came forward as against 400 last year when the stalls were set up at the Indira Gandhi Municipal Corporation Stadium and MBP Stadium in Ajith Singh Nagar. Although 400 applications of interest were received by the corporation last year, cancellation of the annual venue (PWD grounds) disappointed many traders who dropped their plans or sold the stall licences to third party traders. As a result, only 83 stalls sold firecrackers in the cricket ground of IGMC Stadium.
“As the number of applications received was close to the number of stalls available, no draw was conducted. Almost everyone was given a stall,” said VMC’s Estate Officer Krishna Murthy.
“Last year there were not many serious traders which is not the case this year,” he added. Meanwhile, people have to struggle to get the crackers as there will be no stalls in the city.
