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Panic buying fuels surgein vegetable rates in Punjab’s Jalandhar town
Residents seen stocking on unsubstantiated fears of markets, shops being closed for a week; chicken prices drop by 70%
JALANDHAR: Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday advised people not to resort to panic buying, while calling for a Janata Curfew to be observed on Sunday, panicky residents queued up at vegetable markets and grocery stores on Friday.
With most residents stocking up supplies for at least a week, onion which was selling at Rs 35 a kg last week is now being sold between Rs 50 and Rs 60 a kg. Mohinder Kumar, a vendor at the local mandi, claimed onion was in short supply as some people had come to believe it was a cure to illness that Covid-19 caused.
The panic buying is being spurred on by unsubstantiated fear among residents that markets and shops could be closed for a week.
Kawaljeet Singh, a member of the Jalandhar Mandi Arthiya Association, confirmed that retail vendors were selling vegetable and fruit at exorbitant rates.
CHICKEN SALES DROP
Poultry farm owners claim to be victims on WhatsApp. “Our business has been hit statewide as social media fuelled rumours on chicken and coronavirus. Over the past few weeks, we have seen a 70% dip in price and 50% in sales,” claimed Harinder Kumar, a poultry farm owner, in Jalandhar.
“With little demand, poultry chicken is now selling at Rs 25 per kg against Rs 90 previously,” claimed Surinder Kumar, a trader from Nawanshahr.
SHORTAGE OF MASKS, SANITISERS
Even as deputy commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma claims surgical, protective masks and hand sanitisers had been declared essential commodities, to ensure availability of these items at the correct price, overpricing is rampant, as demand exceeds supply.
“Over the past month, we have supplied around 20,000 masks, including to shops in other districts. Some shops have reported shortage of masks,” said Aman Sharma, a chemist, at Dilkusha Market, a wholesale chemist hub in Jalandhar, that has 350 medical stores.
Another shopkeeper claimed, on condition of anonymity, that a normal face mask is being sold between Rs 70 and Rs 200, even as the maximum retail price ranges between Rs 20 and Rs 60. He claimed that N95 masks were sold out.
