Prices of essentials shoot up due to hartal

BNP-led 18 party alliance’s sudden call for hartal on Monday afternoon has affected the city’s kitchen markets as the traders have raised prices of some of the essential commodities by Tk 10 to 20, claiming short supply.
Farmers of Narsingdi have failed to sell perishable items like greens and vegetables to the wholesalers of Dhaka as truck owners and drivers refused to carry due to security reason on roads, as the pro-hartal activists may attack them, causing damage to trucks.
The wholesalers said that the truck drivers’ refusal surely had affected prices of all kinds of commodities in the markets. “Yet, the price should not be as high as it is in markets. Mainly retailers
increase prices illogically,” said a resident of Banani, “and make more profit blaming on wholesalers.”
Farmer Saiful Islam from Narsingdi yesterday told the New Nation in cell phone that vegetables of thousands of taka would be rotten as the wholesalers from Dhaka were not buying them. “We have kept vegetables in piles after picking up from the fields three to four day ago. There is no buyer. We do not know to what extent we shall suffer losses,” said farmer Saiful.
Raihan Uddin, wholesaler of Karwan Bazar said that about 25 goods carrying trucks and even covered vans had been set on fire in different parts of the country since the beginning of the current countrywide unrest.
He said, every night five trucks with loaded vegetables arrive at Karwan Bazar. These trucks generally come from Bogra and Rangpur, but in last three days, he received three trucks only in place of 15, full of vegetables. Raihan concluded that surely short supply would affect the price.
During a visit to Karwan Bazaar, the city’s biggest essential business hub, this reporter observed thin presence of buyers at the wholesale centres.
The price of the fine quality of brinjal was now selling at Tk 30 to 40 per kilogram at South Goran, potato at Tk 15, bitter gourd at Tk 50 to 60, bean at Tk 35 to 40, Orka Tk40 and horse-radish at Tk 120 only at New Market.
The most affected item is fish. Minimum price of fish is Tk 200 per kilo, even of which there is no guarantee of purity and freshness. Source: The New Nation.