With retail tomato prices shooting up to Rs 150 per kilogramme, the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) has launched the sale of tomatoes at Rs 50 to Rs 80 per kilogrammes in 23 Mandis under the committee across the State.  The sale started on Saturday from 9 AM to 12 PM in which nearly 600 people bought around 1,100 kilogrammes of tomatoes, said the secretary of APMC in Dehradun, Vijay Thapliyal. He told The Pioneer that the prices of tomatoes have skyrocketed across the country but these are being sold at exorbitant prices by retailers. He said,  "We are getting tomatoes for Rs 50 to Rs 70 at wholesale prices here but local vendors are selling it for Rs 150 per kilogrammes to even Rs 200 per kilogramme and many are buying it due to a shortage of its supply. We are presently getting a supply of around 800 quintals of tomatoes every day which is quite less than the required supply. To provide relief to locals as per the directions of the government, we decided to open four counters in Niranjanpur Mandi from Saturday." Thapliyal said that they have made certain guidelines to sell tomatoes at these counters to ensure fair sales among locals. He said that one person is allowed to buy only up to two kilogrammes of tomatoes at a time to prevent hoarding or sale to others at higher prices. They are also asked to give their details at the counters after buying the tomatoes. "Since it was the first day of the sale on Saturday and many people did not know about it, we sold around 1,100 kilogrammes of tomatoes which were bought by nearly 600 people in three hours. Such counters were also set up in 23 Mandis under APMC in various cities of the State including Rishikesh, Haridwar and Roorkee among others. We also felicitated those wholesale vegetable sellers who have set up these counters as part of public welfare," said the APMC secretary. On the question of whether the committee will take any action against retailers for selling tomatoes at such higher prices, Thapliyal said that APMC can control the prices in Mandis but not the retail prices. "We can monitor them and question them to some extent but cannot direct them to drop prices. The vendors justify their pricing by stating that they buy tomatoes from Mandi and then bring it to the city area and then sell it to different areas which take their time, labour, and money. By setting up the counters, we also aim to minimise such practices in the cities," he said. He also added that it will take at least two more weeks for the prices of tomatoes to reduce in the State after its supply from neighbouring States starts arriving here.