“I am a native of Rajasthan, but we migrated to Khammam with our families about 4 years back. We make idols and showpieces for our livelihood. This takes a lot of time and hardwork. We thought we could sell the Ganesh idols at a decent price this year and cover up for the losses but the crisis has hit us.

This year, we have made only 50 idols against the 200 odd we made last year, due to lack of raw material. There is also uncertainty over celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi on a grand scale due to Covid-19 restrictions and we are helpless.

Generally, pandal organisers would approach us by this time every year. Orders used to pour in for the preparation of customised Ganesha idols during the months of June and July. But this year, they just enquired about prices of Ganesh idols without placing orders. I don’t know what the future holds for us but I hope at least few of our idols will be sold once the government issues guidelines for the organisers.”

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