*Tomato topped the chart with price of Rs 80-100 per kg
Govind Sharma
JAMMU, July 1: The skyrocketing prices of vegetables have levied an additional burden on the people of Jammu and spoiled the budget of common man, who was already facing the heat of high prices of cooking gas and other food articles.
Local citizens told Excelsior that vegetable prices have gone beyond their purchasing capacity. Tomato which is used to cook every vegetable and pulse (dal) is being sold at Rs 70-100 per kg, Beans Rs 40-50 per kg and Gourd Rs 40-50 per kg in the retail market of Jammu. They said that with the advent of monsoon, prices of vegetables have become double and even triple.
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“Middle class consumers are finding it hard to purchase the vegetables. Tomato was being sold at Rs 20-30 per kg few days back and Gourd at Rs 10-20 per kg and now Tomato prices have become four times and prices of Gourd have become thrice while at the same time, their quality is not good,” said Puran Lal, a retired Government servant while talking to Excelsior.
Meenakshi, a housewife which had come to purchase some vegetables in Parade Vegetable Market, said, “Every vegetable seller has set its own price. Some are selling Tomato at Rs 70 while others are selling it at Rs 80 or 90. There is no check and shopkeepers are looting the public with impunity.” She appealed the LG Administration to form committees for market checking and keep check on rising prices of vegetables.
“Fruits prices were already beyond the reach of poor and now vegetables prices are also making new records. There is no vegetable less than Rs 50-60 per kg. Gourd which is recommended to the patients by the doctors is also out of the reach of common masses. Even prices of potatoes and onions have also soared,” Virender Kumar, who works in a private company, said.
Reena Rani– a private tutor said that earlier they used to purchase vegetables in kilograms but due to steep hike in prices, now they are forced to buy either 250 g or 500 g. Even prices of green leafy vegetables are touching sky, she added.
“The incessant rainfall for the past few weeks in other parts of North India has damaged the vegetable crops. This is not anything new, prices of vegetables soar in Monsoon season every year but this time unseasonal rains and hailstorms in the month of June severely affected the local production of various vegetables, squeezing the supply chain,” said Surinder Singh, president of Wholesale Vegetable Market, Narwal.
He further shared that earlier, several vegetables like cauliflower, peas, beans, tomatoes, brinjal, radish, etc used to come at Narwal Mandi from hilly and mountainous regions of Jammu, Udhampur, Kathua and Ramban districts but this year, all crops grown in these areas damaged due to incessant rains occurred few days back. “The slump in supply and rise in demand for vegetables have further led to prices shooting up,” opined Singh.
Singh said the only local vegetable which is coming in the wholesale market of Narwal is ‘Kasrot’ and its prices are stable but prices of other vegetables have doubled in the last 10 days due to lack of supply. He said in the near future, there is no hope of cooling down of prices until local supply of vegetable starts and chances of this are very grim.
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