Traders at Jauljibi mela complain of poor business

Jauljibi: As the curtains came down on the annual Jauljibi fair on Saturday, traders complained of steep decline in sales with low footfall due to demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.
This year, the mela administration allotted four hundred shops, and traders from as far as Cooch Behar in West Bengal and Moradabad, Rampur, Mathura in Uttar Pradesh came with their wares to the town which is situated at the confluence of Gori and Kali rivers on Indo-Nepal border.
“There were very few people at the mela in the initial days. Then the fair committee decided to accept banned notes, following which people started coming in. Despite that we could only manage to sell 50% of our items,” said Archana Gunjiwal, who was selling woollen clothes at the fair.
Sharing the same sentiments, Iyasin, a trader from Bajpur in US Nagar said, “Every year I sell products of at least Rs 60,000 at the fair but this year I could only manage to earn Rs 20,000 in almost two weeks.”
Most of the traders have already packed their items and are heading to Munsiyari for a local fair which will kick off from November 28. “I hope the business will improve in Munsiyari and in Bageshwar during Uttarayni mela in January,” said Gunjiyal.
While some traders like Harish Kumar said that he will wait for some more days as customers may come to the venue. “If I wait for a few more days, I could earn a little extra to repay my loan,” he said.