LUMBINI: Streets in Butwal are littered with flowers discarded by traders.
Traders dumped flowers on the streets as they remained unsold till the day of Bhai Tika – the final day of the five-day Tihar festival.
Traders say that the entry of cheaper marigold garlands from India, despite sufficient local production, rendered their flowers unsold, leaving them with no option but to dispose of their stock on the streets.
Flowers discarded by traders can be seen on major thoroughfares like Traffic Chowk, Hat Bazaar Lane, and Milan Chowk in Butwal.
Adarsha Madheshya, a flower vendor in Traffic Chowk, lamented the lack of buyers this year. “We had no choice but to discard flowers on the streets. We were doing good business till the second day of the festival. But suddenly, from the third day onwards, buyers were scarce,” he said.
Madheshya reported a loss of Rs 15,000 this year. Some traders incurred losses ranging from Rs 200,000 to Rs 300,000, he added.
Traders argue that the introduction of cheaper Indian flowers inflicted significant losses on both farmers and traders. Illegally imported flowers worth tens of millions of rupees entered the Rupandehi district a few days ago, according to traders.
In a market saturated with locally produced flowers, the arrival of low-cost Indian garlands resulted in an oversupply of flowers in Butwal, traders say
