A special team formed by the West Bengal government conducted an inspection in vegetable markets of Kolkata on Friday to check whether there was artificial hike of vegetable prices in the city.
Officials spoke to buyers and sellers to ascertain whether vegetables were being sold at prices listed by the state government. In many cases, they found that the sellers had raised vegetable prices exorbitantly – well above the wholesale prices – which led to the recent steep rise in vegetable prices.
Officials warned the sellers that action will be taken against them if they are found to continue selling vegetables at such steep prices.
A meeting was held by chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday with the task force formed to control vegetable prices at the state administrative headquarters, Nabanna. The government wanted to ascertain and investigate the actual causes behind such a steep rise in prices and to seek appropriate measures to control prices.
The task force ensures that farmers are paid right prices for their crops because although the vegetables are sold at exorbitant prices in retail markets, the middlemen get the lion’s share of the profit and it doesn’t reach poor farmers.
Prices of vegetables have been on a steep rise after Durga Puja this year due to the extensive loss of crops by excess rainfall and the cyclone that hit parts of the state recently. Most of the crops in Howrah, Hooghly and South 24 Parganas were lost due to waterlogging from flooding and the recent cyclone.
Kolkata gets its vegetable supplies from these areas primarily. Crops in Bankura, Purulia and Murshidabad have also suffered huge damage. Moreover, onion prices have soared all over the country due to heavy monsoons and lowered production in the primary onion producing states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
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