Shopping for vegetables in the Ugadi season has been a nightmare with prices going beyond the reach of the common man in the city.
“It is almost a month now since we have cooked beans. We can’t afford it. Ditto is the case with lady’s fingers. The prices of these vegetables are going up every day,” said Ms Ameena Fathima, a private primary school teacher and resident of Bhoiguda.
We visited Alwal Rythu Bazaar, Monda Market in Secunderabad and a supermarket in Sindhi Colony. The average price of beans was Rs60 per kg, ridge gourd (turai) Rs60 per kg, colocasia (arvi) Rs40 per kg, coccenia (donda) Rs40 per kg and lady’s finger Rs40 per kg. Even a kilo of bitter gourd was priced at Rs40 per kg.
“Prices will go up in the next two months as there is no water; existing bore-wells have dried up and new ones are not yielding water. Agricultural fields on the city’s outskirts have been converted into plots as farmers make more money this way. The middlemen jack up prices after purchasing vegetables from farmers at cheaper rates,” said the AP Agricultural Market Committee Chairmen’s Forum president, Mr Muppidi Gopal.