Vegetable prices soar despite end of truck strike

The truck drivers' strike in Navi Mumbai has caused shortages in vegetable supply and retailers have hiked prices by 25% to 100%.

NAVI MUMBAI: Although the truck drivers’ strike against the new hit-and-run law was reportedly called off on Tuesday, arrivals at the wholesale APMC market in Vashi continued to be hit on Wednesday, resulting in retailers hiking prices of most vegetables by 25% to 100%.

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Traders at the APMC market said arrivals did not improve on Wednesday as vehicles carrying vegetables from outside the state could not reach the market. “The strike was called on Tuesday evening, and many vehicles started their journey from the source state only after that. Only a few vehicles that had stopped mid-way during the strike reached the market today,” said a trader.

APMC trader Dada Jhende said, “We get carrots from Rajasthan; green peas from Madhya Pradesh and Delhi. But vehicles have not arrived from these states in the market since the past two days.” Prices of these vegetables had risen by around 50% in the wholesale market, he said.

“In case of commodities like leafy vegetables, which arrived on Wednesday from Pune, Nasik, Solapur and Junnar in Maharashtra and parts of Gujarat, prices were 25-30% higher on Wednesday than earlier,” said Jedhe.

Vegetable prices in retail markets too zoomed on account of shortages in supply. Mohammed Shimul Shaikh, a vegetable vendor in Vashi, said, “We have been getting very little stock from the APMC market for the past two days at high rates. So, we have no option but to increase prices.”

Prices of most vegetables in the retail market had increased between 25% to 100%; the hike was even steeper in some cases, said Shaikh.

Homemakers, meanwhile, were extremely upset with the hike in prices. “Retailers are taking advantage of the situation. One can understand a slight price hike due to the circumstances, but what they are doing is totally unacceptable. They know that the strike is over and supply will resume shortly, yet they have hiked rates. Once prices go up, they don’t come down for a long time,” said Vaishali Adsul, a Vashi resident.

She said that though vegetarian families like hers needed large quantities of vegetables, they were forced to purchase small quantities, hoping the prices would ease in a day or two. “There needs to be some control over such price hikes as they throw our budget out of gear,” said Adsul.