Bhubaneswar: Roses, cards and gift sellers can look forward to a boom in business this Valentine’s Day since the wedding season is back with a bang after a hiatus of two years. These Valentines have waited for two years to tie the knot due to the COVID-induced lockdowns. This time around they have decided, ‘This far no further.’
The fact that the state capital hosted over 2,000 weddings in the last three weeks and over 500 marriage functions are lined up over the next seven days, is a validation of the fact. With restrictions on the number of guests allowed easing gradually, the numbers could go up.
Here is a fact file.
Civic body Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has issued permission to around 7,627 weddings since October last year. Between January 16 and February 15, licenses were given to around 2,500 weddings. An equal number of weddings were allowed between November 15 and December 15. There was a lull between December 16 and January 15 due to restrictions in areas under BMC jurisdiction, where the number of guests allowed was reduced to 50. Another reason was the month of Pausha, not considered ideal for auspicious events.
However, the situation is looking up now with those applying for conducting marriage related events being granted permission within 72 hours through the www.Bhubaneswar.me portal, a TNIE report said.
The backlog of the last two years coupled with the current year has led to a sudden rush in the marriage industry. What is more, the period till March-end is auspicious, so the wedding season will remain at its peak. Apart from this, the fear of a new variant is looming large, so people are not taking any chances. WHO has already warned that the next COVID-19 variant will be more infectious than Omicron, possibly deadlier.
Meanwhile, Kalyan Mandap owners, event planners, catering and tent houses, meanwhile are also looking at reviving their financial losses before it is too late. With only a month left for the wedding season, they have urged the government to increase the crowd limit for wedding events and social gatherings to 500 from the existing 100.
