Vegetable prices in Ctg rise by Tk 30 in a week
Prices of vegetables in city kitchen markets have jumped on an average Tk 30 a kg in a span of one week.
The hike in vegetable prices comes as a dual blow to the people from the lower and middle income group who have been grappling to cope with the recent price hike of rice.
Vegetable traders said many vegetables fields in different upazilas of the district went under water last week due to heavy rainfall and onrush of water from hills.
The prices of vegetables went up as the supply dwindled following the flooding, they added.
A vegetable trader at Karnaphuli kitchen market, Mohammad Ibrahim, also said, “Prices of vegetables have shot up due to shortage in supply.”
Visiting several kitchen markets including Chawkbazar, Kazir Dewri, Bahaddarhat and Karnaphuli on Friday, this correspondent found that vegetables prices have gone up by Tk 30 to Tk 35 per kg, compared to that during the week before.
Teasel gourd (Kankrol), for example, was available at Tk 30 per kg last week at Chawkbazar kitchen market. But on Friday, it was selling at Tk 65 at the same market. Bitter gourd (Korolla), priced Tk 25 per kg last week, was selling for Tk 50.
At Kazir Dewri, a kg of eggplant or brinjal (Begun) last week was Tk 30 a kg. But it was selling for Tk 60 the same day. Okra, sold at Tk 35 last week, was priced Tk 60 a kg.
At Bahaddarhat, A kg of string or green beans (Barboti) was selling at Tk 55 per kg as opposed to Tk 30 last week.
At Karnaphuli kitchen market, snake gourd was selling for Tk 65 per kg while the price was Tk 40 per kg last week.
The steep prices of essentials are creating an increasing pressure on households with limited income.
Chhagu Miah, a cobbler from Chawkbazar area, said, “I make around Tk 250 a day, but I need to buy two kgs of rice, two kgs of vegetables and half kg of daal [lentil] for my family every day.”
Despite excluding fish or meat, “after spending Tk 96 on rice and Tk 100 to 120 on vegetables, I cannot afford to buy the daal with the money left in my pocket,” he lamented.
Bahaddarhat resident Ratna Bhowmik, a schoolteacher, has been the only breadwinner of her household of four members since her husband passed away ten years ago.
“The soaring vegetable prices have dealt a second blow to me as I have already been struggling to provide for my family after the rice prices shot up,” Ratna said.
Comments