People shopping for Goru Bihu on Thursday.Picture by UB Photos

Kokrajhar, April 12: Prices of essential commodities have hit the roof on the eve of Bwisagu (Bihu) but the inflation has failed to dampen the festive spirit in the Bodo heartland of Kokrajhar.

Conscientious citizens have submitted a memorandum to the district administration demanding that they take strict action to check the unprecedented price rise in the district.

Residents suspected syndicates were behind the spiralling prices. “We have strong reservations that a syndicate or a greedy lobby is behind this,” the memorandum said.

In the memorandum, the people sought uniformity in the price of all essential commodities and of all service related businesses, such as taxis, rickshaws, saloons, groceries and garments in Kokrajhar as compared to adjacent towns.

“The citizens of Kokrajhar are bearing the brunt of uncontrolled prices for a long time. The current prices of all essential commodities and other materials in this district, especially in Kokrajhar, are much higher than the nearby towns. This is obviously not related to the inflation dogging the nation,” vice-president of Discovery Club, M. Mashahary, said.

The memorandum also stipulated that all retailers must display the current rates of commodities at their business establishments. Uniformity should also be maintained in prices of infrastructure material, like cement, iron rods and tiles.

Kokrajhar additional deputy commissioner Ajit Kumar Brahma accepted the memorandum and promised to look into the matter.

However, the people in the Bodo belt, including BTC headquarters at Kokrajhar, were busy preparing for Rongali Bwisagu or Rongali Bihu festival in their own way.

People flooded in to the markets and shops. They bought the traditional dokhna, jwmgra, aronai, mehkla to either to wear or as a gift for their loved ones.

Somaina Basumatary, who was buying a dokhna and a jwmgra, said: “We are concerned about the rising prices, but we cannot let it dampen our spirits or the celebrations.”

“We are buying everything that is necessary for the celebration of Bwisagu. We are just keeping it within our budget. We cannot ignore relatives and friends who visit us during the festival,” said S. Brahma.

Traditionally, Bodos eat gwkha-gwkwi janai or bitter and sour tasting wild vegetables on Sankranti day (the day before the first day of Bohag Bihu). “In villages people collect wild vegetables from the nearby forests, cook it with meat and serve it to visitors wilth jou beedwi (rice beer). As we stay in towns, we have to buy these in markets to serve guests, friends and relatives who visit us,” Brahma said. “We cannot change or ignore certain things,” he added. “Tradition is tradition so we need to have these even though prices are high these days. We are keeping everything on a tight budget.” The ethnic communities in the Bodo belt, including Bodos, Rabhas and Rajbongshis, celebrate Bihu with pomp and fervour.