The otherwise frenzy pocket of Attibele on the outskirts of Bengaluru is bereft of activity ahead of this Deepavali with the Karnataka government strictly enforcing the ban on the sale of conventional firecrackers in the State. This has turned out to be beneficial for wholesalers and retailers selling crackers along Hosur Road on the Tamil Nadu side of the border.
Not a single stall has come up at Attibele, located near the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border on the southern outskirts of the city, where a fire in a cracker godown on October 8 led to the death of 17 people. To avoid the recurrence of such an incident, the government has stepped up enforcement of the ban on the sale of non-green crackers. Usually, in the run-up to Deepavali, people from the city travel up to Attibele to purchase crackers as the prices are lower here when compared with that in the central business district areas of Bengaluru. The wholesalers here purchase crackers from Sivakasi in Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu in bulk and sell them.
