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Onion, tomato prices surge 50% in Chandigarh
While onion prices have gone up from ₹45 to ₹65 per kilogram within a week at apni mandis, tomato rates have risen from ₹40 to ₹60
Onion and tomato prices have gone up once again, disturbing household budgets in Chandigarh.
While onion prices have gone up from ₹45 to ₹65 per kilogram within a week at apni mandis, tomato rates have risen from ₹40 to ₹60.
In fact, onion price is at its peak this year, higher than even when it had reached ₹55 in September and led to the Chandigarh administration setting up special stalls to sell it at subsidised rates. The prices are expected to rise further with officials saying no supply is available.
UT director of food supply Vinod Kavale said the administration has no plan to set up special counters at community centres as of yet .
Apni mandi association president Parlad Singh said: “The price has shot up again because truckers are not coming to the city. There is a cyclone warning on the eastern coast of the country, so trucks are not plying on the roads. Earlier, because of the festival season, trucks hadn’t reached the city, and stocks were already running low.”
Singh said it can take up to two weeks for the prices to stabilise.
Chandigarh transport association general secretary BL Sharma said the cyclone warning had been issued about two weeks back and many truckers decided to sit out the storm. “The storm will pass soon and trucks will start plying again. Many trucks on the way to Chandigarh are stranded in Nasik. However, as rains there have destroyed the crop, it might take some time for the prices to come down,” he said.
Speaking about 50% hike in tomato prices, officials of the Punjab mandi board, too, blamed it on transportation issues. “Tomatoes were entering into the market from Himachal Pradesh, but the supply has stopped over the past few days. The local crop should enter the market within a week’s time, so the prices can be expected to fall shortly.” They added that prices of cabbage, cauliflower and spinach are expected to drop in the coming days, with the new crop ready for harvest.
