Flower shortage looms in West Bengal ahead of ‘Durga Puja’ amid floods

Kolkata: Durga Puja is celebrated in west Bengal with gaiety, and the biggest festival of the state is gearing up. The demand for flowers becomes high during the festival. Unfortunatel, East and West Midnapore, and parts of Burdwan and Howrah are known for the high yield of flowers. Several parts of these districts are under water, so production of flowers will remain low this year.

Several kinds of flowers, including lotus, marigold, tuberose, jasmine, balsam, rose, and sunflower, are grown in this region. The demand for such flowers is high during Durga Puja. Therefore, it may be possible that there will be a shortage of flowers at the upcoming Puja festival in the state.

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Most of the flowers have been damaged due to excessive flooding in the region; those who pluck and put them in cold storage may not be fit for use in the time of Puja because it is still two weeks away. In fact, there is no time to grow fresh flowers and fulfill the huge demand because Puja is going to start on October 8.

As per the traders’ association, flowers are available in the Kolkata market, brought from Ranaghat, and in some parts of Howrah and Burdwan, these areas are not affected by floods. Deepak Baram, a farmer, said, “Half of the plants on my 2.5 bigha land have been destroyed, and the remaining plants are not blooming. All the farmers spend around Rs 5,000-7,000 on high-quality chemicals to save the plants but are not sure about their effectiveness.

District horticulture officer Mou Roy said flowerlands have gone under water owing to excessive rain. Officials are assessing the situation, and a report of the loss will be sent to the state government.