Sales dip by 50%, ghevar sellers left high and dry

Tribune News Service

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Rohtak, July 19

Covid has cast its shadow on the seasonal business of ghevar, a dessert that is made in the month of sawan as per the Hindu calendar.

The sale of ghevar has gone down to 50 per cent this season following the Covid scare.

Rohtak district is popular for its ghevar and more than 300 confectioners here are engaged in the business. The dessert is supplied to Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad and Chandigarh, especially on Teej and Raksha Bandhan.

“We used five bhattis (hearth) daily to prepare ghevar to meet the demand, but the Covid crisis has adversely affected the business this time. Now, we are using merely two bhattis to make the sweet as no order has been received this time from Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad and Chandigarh,” said Dharampal Kataria, owner of a 70-year-old sweets shop.

“The ghevar season usually starts in the third week of June and reaches its peak in mid-July during monsoon but there was no sale during this period this time. Though the sale has increased during the past week, but it is not even half of the previous season,” said Ramesh, a confectioner.

He said ghevar was made for wholesale in the Bara Bazar area and the confectioners there remained busy in July to meet the demand orders, but this time they too have merely 50 per cent work due to Covid.

Pappu, another confectioner, said the negligible movement of people from surrounding districts was the major reason behind the fall in sales of ghevar this season.

“Earlier, a large number of people from Delhi and Gurugram used to visit Rohtak to buy ghevar. But this time, they are not moving out in order to protect them from the deadly disease,” he added.