VIJAYAWADA: The scramble for onions at rythu bazars in Vijayawada eased a bit as the officials concerned reopened non-subsidised stalls for sale of the same. At the general stalls, onions were sold at Rs 75 per kg on Thursday. However, the rush in no way diminished with around 20 tonnes being procured by the rythu bazars in the city on Wednesday and Thursday.
At retail shops throughout the city, prices hovered between Rs 180 and Rs 150 per kg depending on quality. Though there has been a drop in prices at the wholesale market coupled with increased availability of produce, shopkeepers are still selling onions at higher prices failing to meet the demand. “I purchased 50 kg onion at the wholesale market for Rs 160 per kg, just three days ago. Though prices have come down, I cannot charge less from customers as I purchased the stock at a higher price. Also, in a bag of 50 kg onions, about three kg was damaged. It is me who has to bear the loss,” said T Poorna, a shopkeeper.
At rythu bazars in Vijayawada, the general stalls were reopened on Wednesday. At the Swaraj Maidan Rythu Bazar, there are two general counters and one subsidised stall. K Lakshman Rao, a vendor at the Swaraj Maidan Rythu Bazar onion stall said, “People come to us when they find it difficult to wait for subsidised onion or when the stock gets depleted there. Onion price at rythu bazaars is less than the retail shops. Also, people can get more than one kg from us. As there are only two general stalls in the market, we are witnessing huge crowds eager to buy onions.”
Estate Officer at Swaraj Maidan Rythu Bazar D Chakravarthy said, “The rush has slightly come down in the last two days. Earlier this week, we were unable to manage the crowd, as very few staff are employed here. This Friday despite being a holiday for the entire market, we will open the subsidised onion stall. In the last two days, over two tonnes of onion have been sold to the public.”