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Pricey veggies depleting common man’s pocket
The arrival of vegetables in the market dips during summer. At the time of onset of monsoon too, the situation remains more or less the same.
The arrival of vegetables in the market dips during summer. At the time of onset of monsoon too, the situation remains more or less the same.
As the quantity of vegetables available for sale are less, its prices somewhat soar. This is all known. But, this year the situation is a bit unusual with the prices of vegetables sky-rocketing and in some cases going beyond the prices of seasonal fruits like the mangoes. It is a situation where capsicum is selling for Rs 100 per kg as against Rs 50 per kg of dussehri aam.
Not only capsicum, prices of most of the vegetables have soared up to Rs 40/kg and beyond. Vegetable sellers warned that the prices would only shoot up further in near future.
Tomato, cauliflower, lady finger, bitter gourd (karela), carrot and pointed gourd (parwal) are some of the vegetables being sold at the price of Rs 40/kg, which is perhaps the cheapest in the lot. Capsicum is leading the pack with a price of Rs 100/kg.
Hari Om Khatik, a vegetable retailer of Bittan Market, said, “Prices of most vegetables have gone up by 50% as compared to last year.
Prices of most of the vegetables have increased Rs 5-10/ kg. The basic reason behind the rise in vegetables is inflation. Prices of vegetables will rise further between Rs 5 and 10 in the coming days. But, it is still high compared to last summer.”
New Market vegetable vendor Sooraj Singh said the price of tomato has doubled in the last one month, resulting in a steep decline in the sales.
“People have become choosy these days. We had customers, who used to buy two to three kilograms of tomato at one go. Now they have reduced it to half a kilogram.
The condition of onion is also going to be the same. The price of onion will soar up again from Rs 12/kg to Rs 40/kg as supply of onion in the market has reduced,” Sooraj added.
A resident of Koh- e- Fiza, Manju Goyal, said after the pulses, vegetables for day-to-day use like long beans, cabbage, carrot, capsicum and bitter gourd have also gone out of reach for the middle class.
“I have stopped purchasing vegetables in large quantities. The unusual rise in vegetable prices has disturbed my budget.”
Rubina Khan, a homemaker from Jehangirabad, has stopped preparing favourite dishes for her children because she feels that Rs 40 per kilogram is too much for vegetables like tomato, which is also used in many other dishes.
