Veggie prices soar, again

PATNA: The prices of onions and other vegetables are burning holes in people’s pockets these days. The cost of onions, which was Rs 40 per kg in the wholesale market, has gone up to Rs 80 per kg in one week. Other vegetables like cauliflower, potato, bottle gourd and brinjal are also available at higher rates.

A piece of cauliflower, which was priced at Rs 40 last week, is being sold at Rs 50-60 now.

The price of potatoes has gone up to Rs 40 from Rs20. Similarly, bottle gourd is being sold at Rs 50, tomato at Rs 50-60 and brinjal at Rs 40-45 per kg.

Vegetable prices are even higher in the retail market. For instance, potatoes are being sold at Rs 50 per kg and onion prices have touched Rs 100 per kg.

Increased prices have affected the monthly budget of a number of customers. “The vegetable prices in June were one-third of what they are now. I don’t see any upcoming festival and the weather is also fine, then why this surge?” asked Gardanibagh resident Seema.

“We have excluded onions and several green vegetables from our meals and switched to grams and paneer,” claimed another customer, who lives in Gola Road area.

The poor are having a tough time managing their kitchens amid soaring vegetable prices. “My family has been eating chapatis and plain rice for more than a week now. I am unable to buy vegetables because my earning is very less and vegetable prices are quite high,” said Raghav, a worker at the Patna Junction.

Sources at the vegetable markets claimed that the prices of onions and other vegetables in the city had surged due to incessant rainfall in different parts of the state in September-end.

According to vegetable traders and wholesalers, waterlogging and floods in other parts of the state had ruined the crops and reduced the yields.

“Damaged crops led to a hike in prices of vegetables in the region. Prices will continue to remain high for quite some time,” said Sanjiv, a vegetable vendor at Anta Ghat.

Manju Devi, a vegetable trader on Bailey Road said, “The stocked up vegetables are also about to end. Even at big wholesale markets of Samastipur and Muzaffarpur, the vegetables are over-priced.”