Onions are making homemakers weep, not just while cutting them but also with their skyrocketing prices.

Onions come from Nashik, Indore, south Bihar and Bherawal to the state. However, due to heavy rainfall in those states, the prices of onions are going up.

Onion, which was sold at Rs 30 per kg on Monday, was being retailed at Rs 40 to Rs 45 kg on Friday at markets in Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Duliajan, Sivasagar, Biswanath and in eastern Arunachal Pradesh.

The sudden price rise has made homemakers sit up and take control of the house budget.

“Onions are supplied to us in the markets of Roing, Namsai, Mahadevpur, Tezu, Changlang and Longding from Tinsukia commercial market. The prices are high this time with tomato being sold at Rs 100 per kg and chilli (local and supplied both) at Rs 120 to Rs 160 per kg,” Taga Galing, a vegetable seller at Roing in Lower Dibang valley district of eastern Arunachal Pradesh told The Telegraph.

“During Shravan, we avoid onion and garlic. Soon after Shravan ended (on August 23), onion was back on the menu and now its price has risen sharply. So I will have to use it judiciously,” said Pompy Ghosh, a homemaker at Doomdooma.

Meena Devi Barua, a homemaker at Mahadevpur at Namsai district of Arunachal Pradesh, said household expenses would rise sharply because of the short supply.

“Onion is a must for cooking non-vegetarian dishes. On Thursday, onions were sold at Rs 45 kg in my locality. Earlier I had to spend Rs 600 to Rs 800 a month for onions, now I will have to spend Rs 1,350,” she said.

“We are worried at the rise in prices of onion. It affects the sale of meat,” Dilawar Khan, a local meat seller at Doomdooma daily bazaar, said.

Angoor Lata Bhattacharya, a homemaker from Kakopathar, had to purchase onions at Milan Sabzi Bazaar for Rs 45 per kg.

“Prices of everything are escalating. It has become difficult to buy onions these days,” she said.

Retailer Kedar Saha said external factors had left them helpless.

“When we purchase onion at Rs 3,500 per quintal in Tinsukia market, how can we sell it at less than Rs 40 a kg?” he asked.

Dhani Ram Agarwal, a wholesaler at Old AT Road market, said the situation would persist. “The situation will prevail till the temperature goes down. We are incurring big losses these days. Onions are damaged by extreme heat. They also rot in the rain. We have to throw away hundreds of bags of onions due to this. Heavy rainfall has affected the supply of onions badly,” he added.