The 2020 New Year Day was celebrated in the city in an unusual way, with majority of people deviating from the tradition of presenting flowers or bouquets to the near and dear and replacing them with saplings, books, pens and writing pads.
But on the flip side, several bouquet sellers found it hard to sell even 50% of their stock and it dealt a blow also to the sweet shops as the sales came down marginally in Anantapur district.
Shirdi Sai Sweets owner Bhavani Ravi said every year they would receive several orders in advance and stocks would be sold off by afternoon, but this year, they have stock that would last next two days.
Krishna Bodappa, a bouquet seller, though welcomed the decision of the District Collector and other political leaders to shun accepting flowers, felt that the decision should have been made well in advance. It was a loss for many who had invested in the seasonal business, he said.
District Collector Gandham Chandrudu received 1726 pens, 2972 notebooks, 830 pencils and 250 erasers in addition to 27 writing pads, which were distributed to the students of Rapthadu Model School and KSR Girls High School in Anantapur.
There was a beeline of people to meet the District Collector at his official residence. Joint Collector S. Dilli Rao and Municipal Commissioner Prashanti alos met Mr. Chandrudu at his residence to exchange New Year greetings.
In Kurnool too, District Collector G. Veerapandian received books and saplings from people as presents.
