The spate of dengue cases in the township is making residents scramble for mosquito-repelling devices.
At BJ Market’s Fair Traders store, sales of mosquito repellent sprays had plateaued out last week. “In fact, sales were negligible and it was cockroach killing sprays that were selling better,” says proprietor B. Mondal. “But after news of the dengue epidemic spread I’ve exhausted seven days’ stock of mosquito repellents in three days.”
Customers with young children are particularly panic-stricken. “No one wants to take a chance after two Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (BVB) students died. Now parents are buying mosquito repelling ointments and smearing them on their kids before sending them to school,” he adds.
Most shops say liquidators like Good Knight and All Out (with the refills priced at around Rs 70) outsell other forms of repellents, but that sprays like Hit (priced between Rs 89 and Rs 240) and ointments like Odomos (priced at around Rs 40) aren’t far behind.
“After the recent deaths, people have become more conscious. They are buying more mosquito coils and sprays. All their sales have increased in the last few days,” said Bimal Biswas of Bimal Stores in AE Market.
Enquiries for mosquito nets and mosquito screens (Netlon) have also picked up. “Every July and August we sell 90 to 100 mosquito nets, mostly to senior citizens. But if a dengue panic spreads, sales shoot up. In the 2012 dengue upsurge, for instance, sales had doubled,” says Provash Das of CK Market’s Abarani Furnishing House. “While we sold two nets just yesterday, it remains to be seen if sales sustain at this rate this year.”
BD Block-based Swati Distributors, that fixes Netlons, says enquiries have risen after the BVB incidents. “The sale of Netlons has fallen since we started business 25 years ago. Back then, mosquitoes would form crowns above our heads if we went to the park in the evening and fly into out mouths if we tried to talk. Back then, we would fix Netlons at two houses a day. Now we fix five to 10 in three months. Now sales only rise if there is a mosquito-related panic,” says Abhijit Bhowmik of Swati Distributors.
The salesperson at BJ Market’s Dhakeswari Bedding too feels sales of their mosquito nets and Netlons rise and fall based on fear factor. “Let’s see if the hype this year is big enough to drive sales,” says the salesman, asking not to be named.
Input from Shatadipa Bhattacharya
