Joydeb (Birbhum), Jan. 15: Demonetisation has cut down the traditional sale of bananas at the 300-year-old Joydeb Mela by almost half this time.
Traders at the Birbhum fair said they were being forced to sell the bananas at a loss of Rs 20-25 a bunch because of a slump in demand. The farmers said the fruits rot after a few days and taking them back from the fair would mean a greater loss. Every year, around 100 banana traders come to the fair.
Joydeb Mela is gathering of rural traders from Burdwan, Birbhum, Murshidabad and Purulia who sell handicrafts, toys and fruits, mainly bananas.
Baul and kirtan groups also flock to the fair to hold programmes. Organised by the Birbhum administration, the 300-year-old fair attracts people mostly from rural areas. It is held in the memory of poet Joydeb, who wrote the Gita Govinda.
As the fair is held on the occasion of Makar Sankranti, around 4 lakh people visit the ground every year, take a bath in the nearby Ajoy river and have a breakfast of flattened rice, jaggery and bananas.
Nityananda Chattaraj, a member of the fair committee, said he had heard from his grandfather the tradition of buying bananas.
"It has been a tradition. Those days, the area used to be so empty. Traders, mainly from Hooghly, used to come and sell their bananas. People who come to Joydeb Mela must take a bath in the Ajoy and have banana after that. They also buy the fruit for home," Chattaraj said.
The traders said many customers who took home three to four bunches of bananas till last year were buying just one or two.
"I have brought over 1,200 bunches of bananas this year but haven't been able to sell even 250 bunches since Friday. I am selling each bunch of banana at a loss of Rs 20-25," said Lalon Sheikh of Burdwan's Natunhat.
Customers too pleaded helplessness. Most visitors to Joydeb Mela are rural farmers and labourers, who have been hit the hardest by demonetisation. "I used to buy four bunches of bananas every year. This year, I have bought two," said Keramat Ali, a resident of Raghunathpur village in Birbhum.
