Clay lamp manufacturers are facing losses as customers prefer to buy electric lamps and wax lamps over the traditional clay items.
Clay lamp manufacturers in the city struggled this Diwali due to low demand of the traditional clay items in the market. Earlier people used to decorate their houses with clay lamps but now due to availability of different alternatives which are more convenient and easier to use, customers shifted their choices from traditional items to new ones in the market.
Devoshree Saha, a resident of Nagashettyhally said that, “I prefer to use electric lamps and wax diyas because the traditional clay items create a mess. The oil spills over the floor sometimes and we also have to clean because the place gets dirty. So, I prefer to buy electric items nowadays. It also saves a lot of time.” Manufacturers say that their business has drastically gone down and they could only sell around 20 percent of their items this year. Availability of easy options like online shopping has created a huge business loss for these small-scale clay manufacturers.
Deepika, owner of Sivananda clay manufacture and pottery dealer in Benson town said that “80 percent of our customers didn’t come to us this time. Earlier we used to get bulk orders from NGOs and corporates. Online marketing platforms has brought down our business and we are suffering from loss. Our business is seasonal and we only bring these stocks during Ganesh Chaturthi and Diwali but due to electric and wax lamps our whole market suffered loss.
Padmashree Balaram, an environmentalist said that “both clay and plastic materials are non-biodegradable but it is the matter of our traditions which is fading away, we are losing our
culture day by day by day.”
