NELLORE: Tomatoes were selling for as much as Rs 70-100 a kg in Sulurupeta and Naidupeta of Nellore district on Sunday, with rumours doing the rounds that vegetable shops would be shut amid the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in the district.
The prices of other vegetables too shot through the roof, leaving the common man in tears. Even in Nellore city, most vendors were selling vegetables at inflated prices.
Officials have declared parts of the city as red zones, and the police have reduced the duration for which people are allowed to buy groceries. Barricades have been set up on roads across the city.
Not just carrot, capsicum, cabbage, cauliflower and other vegetables that are usually imported from other parts of the country were in short supply, but even locally-grown varieties were not available in some areas.
Though the Nellore Municipal Corporation has set up vegetable markets, no variety is being sold for less than Rs 40 per kg.
Traders say they have to shell out large sums to hire autorickshaws to bring their vegetables to the market. “With the lockdown in place, it is difficult to get trucks and autorickshaws to transport vegetables. We don’t make any profit with the prices announced by the State government,” said a local vendor.
Villagers clash over barricade to prevent travel
Residents of two villages in Aluru mandal of Nellore district clashed with each other over barricades set up to prevent the movement of travellers.
It all began when a person from Kottakuru village in Iskapalli mandal visited his relatives in Lakshmipuram after attending the Tablighi Jamaat meeting in Nizamuddin.