It’s not petrol and diesel prices alone, the salaried class people here are struggling to cope with the skyrocketing prices of vegetables. Housewives are at a loss as to handle their kitchens as there reports that the price of subsidised cooking gas would also increase.
Over the weeks, the prices of vegetables in the biggest veggie market here at Chhatrabazar have gone beyond the reach of common people. Barring the prices of potato and onion which have registered marginal increases due to Government control, those of other vegetables have increased nearly three times during the past one week.
“The green vegetables come from local areas, and due to the rains and end of summer season, the availability of seasonal vegetables has been affected. But once the vegetables grown during rainy season hit the market in about a fortnight, normalcy would return to the market with control over price hike,” said a vegetable vendor at Chhatrabazar.
However, the towering prices of vegetables have hit the poor and downtrodden, including the daily-wage earners the most.
“The daily essential vegetables for us like potato and onion are vanishing from our kitchens,” said a construction worker at Markat Nagar of the city, adding that his daily wage is not permitting him to store enough stuff at least for
two days.
Potato is selling at Rs18 to
Rs20 per kg and onion is priced at Rs28 to Rs30 per kg in Chhatrabazar and the same are priced a little higher in sub-urban and other local markets.
“These prices have doubled in a week and it has been very difficult to run the house with increase in prices of other essential commodities,” said
a housewife. All the green vegetables are selling at exorbitant prices between Rs40 to Rs120 per kg, mainly due to short supply of the stuffs.
“There is no question of hoarding the green vegetables aiming to book profit at later stage because the perishable goods cannot be hoarded,” said Kuna Patra, a vegetable grower of nearby Naraj.
The Supply Department officials are, however, on their toes to ensure that the potato and onion prices do not shoot up due to hoarding by unscrupulous traders. At least four district-level teams are keeping a watch over the market and the retailers are asked to fix rate charts in their kiosks showing at what price they have purchased potato and onion from wholesale market.