kochi though vishu is celebrated amid the second wave of the covid19 pandemic the firecracker market which was hit hard by the lockdown last year gained momentum this time most of the shops in ernakulam witnessed very good sales in the wake of vishu the firecracker sellers were hopeful of overcoming the crisis created by the pandemic with the vishu business this year with the number of covid cases rising the business is done with strict adherence to covid protocolslast years vishu was dampened by the covid19 lockdown and we suffered severe loss as shops were not even open due to the restrictions the crackers stored for the festival could not be sold and most of them have wasted away this time the business is pretty good though the pandemic restrictions are there many families have come to the shops to buy crackers compared to the precovid times the business is nearly half but it is a huge respite from the loss we suffered last year said babu antony owner of senorita crackers kakkanadmany shops have introduced new types of crackers mostly fountains ground spinners sparklers poppers and snakes to get the attention of buyers especially kids the pandemic too has inspired firecracker makers and there is a new item called corona a sparkler in the shape of the coronavirus most of these items are imported from factories in sivakasi tamil nadu however many sellers said that rains in the evening for the last few days slightly dissuaded people from buying crackers moreover people prefer those crackers that give importance to light and colours than sound as many fear action by authorities for noise pollutionmeanwhile the kochi city and ernakulam rural police have strengthened surveillance to crackdown on illegal storage of firecrackers police teams are deployed to check the licence of sellers and ensure that safety guidelines are followed in storage places