Bengaluru: Here’s another fallout of the Chennai floods, which affected millions of people, and even brought tears to the eyes of vegetable growers in Tamil Nadu and Andhra. The result: now veg prices have come down by half in Bengaluru city.
Following the heavy rain throughout the month of November, especially in parts of South Karnataka, vegetable prices in Bengaluru city started to skyrocket. Tomato rates touched Rs 80 per kilo while rates of other essential vegetables including carrot, onion and potato also reported a steep increase. But all of a sudden, now prices have come down. Tomatoes, which cost Rs 80 per kilo just 15 days ago, now sold for just Rs 20 in retail markets.
Vendors and growers blame the Chennai flood for the sudden crash in the rates. According to them, with the Railways withdrawing all its Chennai-bound trains they could not transport perishable vegetables like tomatoes. With road connectivity also getting disrupted, growers were left with no option other than to sell their products in Bengaluru, which led to the sudden fall in prices.
According to the growers, they were forced to sell their vegetables at a low rate in Bengaluru. Transporting any commodity to Chennai is not an easy task now. "Truck drivers are demanding hefty amounts to transport any vegetable to Chennai, saying roads are bad, there’s no connectivity to local markets in Chennai. Floods have become an easy reason for them to demand extra money. With so many people affected by the flood, we are not sure whether there is any demand for vegetables in Chennai city. So, I have brought the tomatoes I cultivated in my farm to KR Market,” said Shanmuga Nathan, a farmer from Hosur. According to him, once Chennai returns to normalcy, prices are expected to go up again.
But city homemakers are happy with the situation. They feel that with tomato prices coming down to Rs 20 per kilo, they can breathe a sigh of relief. “We cannot cook anything without onions or tomatoes. Anyway, rates are eased now,” says Malathi Bhat, a resident of Malleshwaram.
Railways, KSRTC resume services
KSRTC and Railways resumed full service to Chennai from Bengaluru and Mysuru, but the occupancy remained very low. Railway officials said that all regular trains to Chennai from Bengaluru and Mysuru departed on time and reached Chennai central railway station. “Low occupancy could be because people are not aware that the services have resumed,” an officer said. “It is expected to improve from Tuesday when people come to know that the service has resumed,” he said.
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