Good news! Prices of tur dal, pulses to come down

BENGALURU: Good news for harried housewives – the prices of tur dal and pulses, which have shot up due to the artificial scarcity created by illegal hoarders, is likely to come down in the next 10 days. The prices of toor dal, green gram and udad dal have crossed Rs 200 per kilo, in the process burning deep holes in the pockets of those who can still afford to buy them.

But now there’s relief in sight. Thanks to the efforts of Food and Civil Supplies Department minister Dinesh Gundurao and officials who raided illegal hoarders and seized dals and pulses.

Mr Dinesh Gundurao said that a massive amount of dals (13,000 metric tonnes), have been seized from different districts. The worth of the dals: a whopping '190 crore!

The major raids conducted during the past week have helped the department to seize tons of dals from hoarders in Gulbarga, Bidar, Dharwad and Bengaluru city. In Bengaluru alone, tur dals worth Rs 2.5 crore were seized from the multi-retail outlets.

“All the deputy commissioners of the districts have been directed to follow the procedure as per the Essential Commodities Act 1955 and auction the seized dals. They have been directed to complete the process by November 7. DCs have been asked to auction the pulses in a transparent manner without giving the cartel of traders a chance,” said Mr. Dinesh. He added that illegal hoarders will be booked under the Essential Commodities Act 1955.

A maximum limit of 100 quintals will be fixed for multi-retail outlets to store dals.

Wholesale hoarders can store up to 2,000 quintals. Once these seized commodities hit the market, the prices will automatically come down, added Mr Dinesh.