GUWAHATI, April 18: With the coming of Bihu celebrations coupled with the LS elections, the price of essential commodities also seem to have shot up considerably.
Significantly, there appears to be no uniformity in the recent hike in prices and in some cases, the same items have been priced differently in various places in and around the city. According to the Traders’s Association, this has caused a lot of inconvenience to the people residing in the city.
According to sources, the steep hike in prices of essential commodities has been attributed to inadequate transport facilities coupled with the increase in transport tariffs. Interestingly, the Traders’ Association has also stated that another reason why the prices have increased is because there is a palpable decrease in the production of certain items such as the potato whose price have risen alarmingly from Rs 10 just a week ago to Rs 15.
According to a member of the Traders’ Association S Sarma, there has been a 25% decrease in the production of potatoes. Barpeta and Kharupetia which happen to be the chief suppliers of potato to the city have only managed to supply a paltry 10% of the normal produce, thereby contributing to the unprecedented hike in the price of potatoes.
Another factor that has also played a contributory role in the recent rise in price of the potato is the fact that the city suffer from poor storage facilities. There are at present 4 cold storage houses in the city, particularly in Changsari of which, two are privately owned. Aside from the 4 mentioned above, there are two others–one each in Beltola and Lakhra and what is more these cold storage houses are in rather bad shape. THE SENTINEL
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