High vegetable pricesshock Madurai Residents
For many Madurai residents, vegetable shopping at the
Central Vegetable Market near Mattuthavani on Sunday morning burnt a big
hole in their pockets.
For the last one month, the
prices of vegetables have been steadily rising. “Onions, potatoes and
tomatoes are sold at Rs.30 a kg today,” said S. Shiva who owns a
wholesale shop in the market. Selling at Rs.70 a kilo, beans proved to
be one of the most expensive vegetables. Drumsticks are sold at Rs.65 a
kg and ‘avarai’ (country beans) and beetroot at Rs.50.
“We
are not expecting the rates of vegetables to come down anytime soon.
There has been scanty rainfall everywhere and there haven’t been heavy
arrivals,” said N. Eswaran, a vendor.
“Customers
bargain hard but we are already not making much profit. People who used
to buy in kilos buy only 250 grams to 300 grams of these vegetables,” he
added.
Echoing his view, most vendors at the market
also said that with the cost of transportation having gone up, they
were hardly making money.
“It costs Rs.5 to
transport one kilo. A train ticket to Tenkasi which used to cost us
Rs.25 now costs Rs.35,” said T. Muthukumar.
G.
Nagamani, a vendor who sells coriander, said they bought a kilo of the
leaves at a whopping Rs.160. “Prices used to be so low that we used to
give it for free in the past,” he said.
With
vegetables such as radish, chow chow (chayote) and brinjal costing Rs.35
a kilo, customers have no choice but to go ahead and spend heavily on
vegetables.
“We pack lunch for our children every
day and they need some variety. With vegetables such as beans costing
Rs.70 a kg, we have been forced to skip preparing extra meals such as
evening snacks and tiffin,” said G. Balamurugan, a resident of Surya
Nagar.
T. Bhuvaneshwari, a resident of
Kadachanendhal, said the prices of vegetables were not the only ones to
hurt, the prices of meat had also doubled. “While chicken cost Rs.170 a
kilo, mutton costs Rs.500. Now, our household budget is in disarray,”
she says.