Is a trip to the vegetable market burning a hole in your pocket? Well, brace yourself as prices are expected to peak this weekend when the state goes to panchayat polls.
“Because of heavy security in the villages, the haats are not taking place. Without those, the farm produce does not get sold and sent to the cities. This creates a shortage and sends prices soaring,” explained Nikhil Maity, secretary of the BD Market traders’ association.
On Monday, a task force had raided several markets in the city, including BD, CK and AB-AC in Salt Lake. “They were concerned about rising prices and asked us how much we were selling at as well as how much we were paying the wholesellers,” said Maity. “We asked them to control the wholesale prices if they wanted us to reduce ours.”
For instance, chillies cost about Rs 200/kg in wholesale on Wednesday as opposed to Rs 120 a fortnight ago.
Shyamal Saha, a vendor at ABAC Market, said the prices had not really changed after the visit by the task force. On Wednesday, most block markets sold tomatoes at Rs 120 (it was Rs 60/kg a fortnight ago), brinjal sold at Rs 120 kg (it was Rs 70-80kg a fortnight ago). Beans, capsicum, lady’s finger, jhingey are all getting dearer by the day.
Ginger has seen the steepest hike, shooting up from Rs 15/kg to 300/kg. The reason is the unrest in Manipur, the state that is a major producer of spice. The disrupted supply chain has created a shortage of ginger and pushed up prices.
Erratic weather is ruining crops too. “I know of villages where farmlands as large as Baisakhi Abasan have yielded a paltry 10kg of brinjals as the vegetables got ruined in stagnating rain water,” said a vendor outside Baisakhi.
Meanwhile, the state-sponsored Sufal Bangla stalls continue to sell at much cheaper rates. Tomatoes sold at Rs 89 on Wednesday, chillies at Rs 150. “We are selling these vegetables at a loss as the government wants to keep prices affordable,” said a vendor at the Sufal Bangla stall outside Baisakhi.