Telangana: No takers for ice apples, toddy in Mancherial
"For the second year in a row, the sales of ice apples have declined. Fearing Covid, customers are wary of buying them," Kola Kamal, a vendor in Mancherial.
Mancherial: Certain businesses thrive in summer helping roadside vendors to make huge profits. Vendors selling ice apples and toddy usually register brisk sales with many customers making a beeline to them to beat the scorching summer heat. This time around, however, there are no takers for the juicy fruit and the drink, thanks to Covid-19 pandemic.
“For the second year in a row, the sales of ice apples have declined. Fearing infection, customers are weary of buying the fruit. I am forced to bear travel expenses involved in transporting the nature wonder from my village to Mancherial town,” Kola Kamal, a vendor from Brahmanapalli village in Anthargaon mandal of neighboring Peddapalli district told ‘Telangana Today’.
Come April, scores of toddy tappers from several parts of Mancherial and Peddapalli districts earn a livelihood selling ice apples in busy junctions and on important stretches in the town. Considering nutritional values and health benefits, their roadside stalls used to be swarmed by customers every summer till 2020.
Meanwhile, the sales of toddy have also dropped down mainly owing to the alarming rise in Covid positive cases. The tappers are left with no option but to dump the natural drink or to consume it themselves in the wake of dip in the sales of toddy. The toddy centres located in rural parts are wearing a deserted look, causing losses to the tappers.
Talla Gurijala village in Bellampalli mandal, Peddampet in Hajipur mandal, Bheemaram mandal centre, Boyapalli and Komaravelli in Thandur and many other villages are known for producing quality toddy. The tappers of these villages said that the sales of the drink plummeted following the scare of Covid-19 among the customers.
Surender Goud, a tapper from Thalla Gurijala said that the tappers were unable to sell the drink even as the season was coming to an end. He regretted that they were confined to homes due to unprecedented dip in the sales. Some of us are drinking it if they gather the drink,he disclosed.
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