Flowers are going to be rarer and dearer this Tihar as the festival happens later than usual, when the growing season is almost over, due to the occurrence of the intercalary month in the lunar calendar.
“Late season marigolds will be costlier,” said Prasanjit Samanta, owner of New Calcutta Flower Shop at Kamalpokhari, who opened his flower shop two years ago. He added that fewer flower shipments will be arriving from India this year which will also push up the price.
“Flower prices might increase during the festival, but we are making sure that there will be no artificial price hike,” Kumar Kasaju Shrestha, president of the Floriculture Association of Nepal, said. As there will be no imported flowers in the market for the upcoming festival, the association will take steps to prevent any price gouging.