Kohima, July 23: Nagas are ordering the indispensable betel leaves by air from Calcutta.

Shiv Prasad, a paan (betel leaf) vendor here, bought almost rotten betel leaves at Rs 150 for a pack of 100 today. Tomorrow, he fears, there won’t be any.

Supply of essential commodities, which includes tobacco and paan for many, has stopped for the past four days with road and rail tracks inundated. Getting stocks from Calcutta by air remains the only route of hope. But the “high-flying” betel leaves cost more and were being sold at Rs 250 per hundred in Dimapur yesterday. Traders in Jorhat and Dibrugarh are taking the same route, sources said.

“This had happened only in the 1990s when there was a bandh in Nagaland. But the value of the rupee was more then while the demand was lower,” said Ashok Singh, a trader in tobacco and betel leaves.

While there are three daily flights to Dimapur from Calcutta, only about 2,000 leaves are brought in by the odd trader. Booking of betel cargo is not allowed in flights, much to the discomfiture of paan-lovers.

“We are going to suffer if the floods don’t recede,” said Atou, picking up his stock of paan before reaching office. Several office-goers find working difficult without wetting their throats with betel juice.

The situation is worse in interior districts like Wokha and Phek. Traders said while Dimapur has to get its supply from Calcutta by air, betel leaves are rotting in Guwahati where the floods have cut off communication links.