Around 40,000 weddings were cancelled in the last two months

 Punit Oswal, the owner of a lawn in Bibvewadi, isn’t thinking about reopening his facility for ceremonies, including marriages, even after the recently announced relaxations by the state government.

“It is too early to comment. Moreover, the marriage season is practically over and the new season begins only after Diwali,” Oswal said.

Around 40,000 weddings were cancelled in the last two months in the district owing to stringent measures to curb the second wave of Covid-19. The latest norms allow a maximum of 50 attendees for weddings and other functions but the banquet halls and lawns owners have very little to cheer about.

“The losses suffered by the marriage industry, which includes 55 types of businesses, are close to Rs250 crore in Pune district in last two months alone,” Kishor Sarpotdar, a representative of the Marriage Halls and Lawns Association of Pune, told TOI.

“We have two wedding seasons — March to July and post-Diwali till February. There are only a handful of muhurtas left in this season. Thus, at this point, relaxations in rules make no difference to the industry,” Sarpotdar, also the president of the Maharashtra Catering Association, said. The district has over 1,000 banquet halls and lawns, besides over 30,000 caterers. A representative of a banquet hall in Hadapsar saw 15 bookings cancelled.