Low supply of veggies and the holy month of Shravan have dealt a double blow to the average homemaker’s monthly food budget.

The soaring prices of vegetables over the past fortnight have forced the residents to cut down on consumption.

Market watchers have more bad news in store for citizens — no respite in the northward bend of the price curve for the next 20 days at least. For the majority of citizens, going vegetarian during Shravan has never been costlier.

Onions, available for Rs 16 a kg 15 days ago, sold at Rs 40 in the Boring Road area on Monday. Vendors in many localities demanded Rs 45 for an equal amount. Similarly, the price of tomato has doubled to touch the Rs 50-a-kg mark.

Vijay Kumar (48), a resident of Ramakrishna Colony in Bazar Samiti, said: “It has become difficult to buy vegetables these days. The skyrocketing prices have forced us to purchase less quantity of vegetables. Earlier, I used to purchase one kg of tomato, but now I have to manage with 250gm.”

The situation is the same with most vegetables. At Mushalhapur Haat, where large quantities of vegetables are sold at lower rates everyday, buyers could not get any respite.

“If you have come here to buy vegetables at lesser price, you have made a mistake. Prices are almost same everywhere,” Brajkishore Yadav, a vegetable seller at Mushalhapur Haat, told this correspondent.

Shobha Kant Jha (55), a Bakarganj resident, visiting the market to purchase cheap vegetables was left stunned. “I could easily have gone to Anta Ghat near my house but I thought of buying veggies at lesser prices here. They, however, cost the same here. I just wasted my time and energy travelling 4km from home. I have stopped eating vegetables such as bitter gourd and pointed gourd. They are too expensive. It is better to eat potatoes and ladies’ finger.”

The Telegraph tried to probe the factors that led to such price rise.

Agriculture department expert Anil Kumar Jha said: “In Patna, most vegetables come from the diara area. The swollen Ganga is preventing farmers from bringing their veggies to markets in the state capital. Parts of the diara are submerged, which has also cut the supply line. Supply of vegetables such as potato and bottle gourd from districts like Nalanda and Vaishali has dwindled too. The prices will remain constant for another 20 days at least.”

Some homemakers have been forced to mull cheaper alternatives to vegetables.

“I think tomato puree, which comes nicely packed, is an affordable and better option. I know it does not have the natural taste of tomato, but we have to manage until the vegetable prices do not drop,” said Sushma, a homemaker residing in R-Block.