CHENNAI: As the city braced itself for a complete lockdown from Monday, vegetable prices shot up marginally on Sunday. While most vegetables were being sold at double, or even triple the price in most shops, many outlets ran out of supplies by noon.
In the retail market, per kg, potato was being sold at Rs 40-50, as against the usual price of Rs 20-30, beans at Rs 150-190 (usually Rs 70), ladies finger at Rs 50-60 (usually Rs 20), and onion at Rs 60 (usually Rs 30). Similarly, the prices of almost all vegetables were hiked. At the big, air conditioned vegetable shops in the city, prices were almost four times higher than usual. For example, beans were sold at Rs 290 per kg, carrot at Rs 190, brinjal at Rs 100 and potato at Rs 80.
“As it is, we don’t have enough money to stock up vegetables for a week. With such prices, we can only buy supplies for two days. We hope the government will step in and help us,” said P Hassar, a daily wage labourer from Velachery. Meanwhile, the lack of physical distancing was evident in almost all markets on Sunday. Ironically, the lockdown is being imposed to control the spread of Covid, but on Sunday, markets withnessed heavy crowding with people pushing each other and removing their masks from time to time.
GST Road, Mount Road and other arterial roads in Chennai were clogged with vehicles as shops were open throughout the day. The scene resembled a carnival, with clothing stores, among others, also being opened. People from moffusil and rural areas of the city also indulged in panic buying. Mullaimagal, a resident of Chittamur village in Chengalpattu, told The New Indian Express she does not trust that the government will supply fruits and vegetables. “In case no officer comes to our village, what will I feed my children? I bought groceries for 10 days already,” she said.
The roads were also dotted with makeshift shanties that were set-up on Sunday. People flocked these street markets with their children. “We did not know if vegetables would reach us from Koyambedu, if we set up our shops in different places. So many vendors decided to gather and set up shops in groups. We have already lost our income, so we had to make the best of Sunday,” said a vendor near Pallavaram.
In areas such as Chromepet, Hasthinapuram and Chittlapakkam, people formed long queues outside supermarkets as early as 6 am. Street hawkers too made brisk business, causing dense crowds on narrow streets.
Corporation to deploy mobile carts for fruits, veggies
The city corporation is set to deploy mobile carts across the city to sell fruits and vegetables from Monday. To know the time of arrival of the carts or to check the prices, residents may contact the helpline numbers 94999 32899 or 044 4568 0200. The mobile carts will deliver from 6 am to 12 noon. In addition, online delivery services like Big Basket, Sunny Bee, Reliance and Pazhamudir have been allowed to continue their delivery services from 8 am to 6 pm.