Raipur, Oct 8 (IANS) Dussehra organising committees are facing the heat in Chhattisgarh this year as inflation has made more than thrice-costly the effigies of demon king Ravan, his brother Kumbhkaran and son Meghnad which shall be burnt on Dussehra, Oct 9.Even the families that have been involved for decades in making the effigies for Dussehra are worried whether this year their ready-made effigies would be sold because of high price-tags driven by increased raw material cost, including that of bamboo.

“I have kept ready at least 70 effigies of Ravan and an equal number of those of Kumbhkaran and Meghnad for sale for Dussehra but have booking for just nine with less than 48 hours to go for the traditional burning of the effigies,” Yogesh Rajak, of Raipur’s Bhanpuri area, told IANS.

Rajak, whose family has been involved with making of effigies for Dussehra for three generations, said the cost of bamboo, coloured paper and ropes — in fact, all the ingredients used for effigy-making — have shot up three times over the past one year. “Now, the effigy cost comes to about Rs.210 per foot compared to Rs.60 per foot last year.”

Effigy makers here estimate that about 500 effigies of Ravan, Kumbhkaran and Meghnad are set afire on Dussehra day in Raipur alone. These include some three dozens effigies of 90 feet or more in height.

Satyam Duwa, secretary of the Sarvjanik Dussehra Utsav Samiti that holds the distinction of having the tallest effigies of Ravan in the state at the famous WRS ground here, said: “Inflation has surely affected Dussehra preparations.”

“Till last year, we were spending nearly Rs.250,000 for 150-foot-tall effigies of Ravan, Kumbhkaran and Meghnad inclusive of the cost of crackers stuffed inside the effigies… This year, we were expecting the bill to be around Rs.800,000,” Duwa told IANS.