BENGALURU: Bengalureans too have been facing the aftermath of the the recent floods in Karnataka, and neighbouring Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The prices of vegetables, especially onions, have doubled in the past 10 days. The reason being that crops were damaged by heavy rains and vegetables could not be transported from neighbouring states due to bad roads.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Prasanna BN, MD of Hopcoms said, “The price of onions has gone up considerably as compared to other vegetables. We are paying a much higher price just to get them to the city.”
Chandrakala, the owner of Sai Enterprises, a vegetable shop in RT Nagar, said, "We buy all vegetables from the Yelahanka vegetable market. I personally check the vegetables before buying them. So we maintain standards, but I have seen extremely low quality vegetables as well."
For retail selling, onions cost Rs 2,000 per quintal exactly two months ago. As of August 21, the rate has gone up to Rs 3,000. This increases the selling price from around Rs 25 to an average of Rs 40 per kg. As onions are used in almost every household every day, these fluctuating prices has left consumers deliberating if they need it or not.
Gangambike, a housewife, said, “I have started to think if my family really needs these vegetables, because the prices are so high. If the prices go up, we don’t buy a lot, so our vegetable consumption decreases but when the prices are down, we buy a lot. So it depends on the prices.”
Another consumer, Shobha Shankar said, “I have a family of four to feed, so I buy a lot of vegetables. Keeping this in mind, I cannot bargain with the seller. They will give me reasons like rent needs to be paid or that they need some profits as they bought the vegetables at a high price, what do I do then? Life becomes very difficult during at these times.”