Kolkata: Customers fume as vegetable prices go up by up to 100%

Vegetable prices in Kolkata have gone up dramatically in the past week leaving the customers disappointed and fuming.

Vegetable prices in Kolkata have gone up once again and customers have been left dejected by the price hike. Price of tomato soared to around Rs 120-130/kg while the likes of potato, onion and green chilly among others also witnessed a hike. The price hike in the retail markets has been burning holes in the pockets of the consumers.

With the coronavirus pandemic having a severe financial impact on lakhs of families across West Bengal, the rise in vegetable prices has come as a double blow for them. While tomato prices soared over Rs 100/kg, potato was sold at Rs 35-38 per kg, and green chillies at around Rs 120 per kg. Most vegetables in the retail markets were available at the rate of over Rs 60/Kg.

As per a report in Times of India, vegetable vendors blamed the middlemen for the hike in prices in a bid to generate more profit. While the wholesale rate of the vegetables remained normal, retail prices went up dramatically to almost 100% in the last one week.

“It seems we are in an age when we go to the market with a bagful of money to return home with a pocketful of vegetables,” a retired government employee Alok Ghosh, was quoted as saying by Times of India over the latest price hike.

Earlier, Kolkata had witnessed a similar price hike in the month of July when heavy rains resulted in lack of supply and damage of crops. The damage caused by the rain and floods in Bengal is still believed to be one of the major reasons behind the hike in vegetable and prices of poultry products.

However, no relief seems possible for the consumers in the near future in a COVID stricken market where middlemen are trying to make the most of the money by providing the stock to retailers at high rates.