KATHMANDU: The heaps of cassava, sweet potatoes and cocoyam are lesser in comparison to earlier years at Kalimati Fruits and Vegetable Market, the main supplier for Nepali capital Kathmandu.

Though the Maghe Sakranti festival is at the doorsteps, the sales still remain low as the COVID-19 continues to affect the economic condition of people badly. Vendors have seen lesser sales this year in comparison to the earlier years as a new strain of coronavirus continues to surface.

“The sales have dipped further in comparison to the earlier years as the number of customers visiting the market is few,” Shree Krishna Basnet, a local vendor at Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable shop told ANI.

“As a few more days are left for the festival, we have pinned hope that it would soar up the sales,” Basnet added.

As per Basnet, sales of various yams stood at around 30-50 tons before the arrival of the festival of Maghe Sankranti but this year, the sale has stood at less than 30 tons. Till the day of the festival, Basnet claimed to sell 90 tons of yams but he is skeptical that he would meet the number this year.

“The COVID scare has still continued to haunt down consumers and the market is still struggling hard to fall back on the track. The business has continued to remain low till now and it is the problem of every sector now,” Basnet added. Yams which has been the most popular domestic products in the festive market use to be sold as same as at other times of the year but the recession caused by coronavirus has continued to haunt.

The festival of Maghe Sakranti (first day of Magh) is celebrated and marked by consuming different tuber crops mainly yam and sweet potato. People boil yams in the evening of the last day of Poush and relish them the next morning with ghee and chaku (Molasses). It is widely believed that the boiled yams taken on the morning of Maghe Sakranti staves off cold-related ailments. (ANI)