Bhubaneswar/Berhampur, Nov. 6: Torrential rain in the state over the past three days triggered by cyclone Nilam has hit vegetable and fish supply to the capital, pushing prices to a new high.

The price of onion has gone up from around Rs 16 a kg about a week ago to Rs 23, with supply from Bangalore, Hubli and southern Andhra Pradesh having been paralysed. Its wholesale price is now around Rs 17 a kg, having risen by Rs 3 to Rs 4 depending on the quality.

“We are trying to bring in onions from those areas of Karnataka which were by and large spared by Nilam. Once this stock gets exhausted, the prices will rise further. Besides, transport problems caused by the storm have added to the cost,” said Jayadev Sahu, a godown owner at Ainginia, Bhubaneswar.

Other vegetables have also become costlier because of the damage caused to the crops in the vegetable belt on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar.

“The bulk of the winter supply of vegetables to Bhubaneswar comes from those areas where cauliflowers, cabbages, brinjal, green vegetables and country beans are grown. But the rain has damaged more than 50 per cent of the vegetable crops. The effect of this loss will be felt after a week or so,” said Santosh Kumar Sahu, a major supplier of vegetables to markets in Bhubaneswar.

Sahu, who gets cauliflower, capsicum and tomatoes from Bangalore, said: “Apart from raw banana, no other vegetable is coming from Andhra Pradesh. Supply of vegetables that come through Andhra Pradesh has been hit. On Sunday, trucks from Bangalore carrying cauliflower, beans and capsicum were stranded in Andhra Pradesh. They reached Bhubaneswar 12 hours behind schedule.”

With the local crops hit, suppliers to Bhubaneswar market are planning to bring in cauliflower and beans from Jharkhand.

But that will make the vegetables costlier because the transport charges will be more.

 

Fish supply affected

Seikh Mustafa, president of the Bhubaneswar Fish Merchants’ Association in Unit-IV market, said: “Fish merchants have been the worst hit. At present, we are getting only one-tenth of our daily fish supply from Andhra Pradesh.”

Market sources said Bhubaneswar gets around 10-12 truckloads of fish from coastal Andhra Pradesh. But only one or two truckloads have arrived since the cyclone struck.

“For the past four days, we have not received a single truckload of fish on time. They all were running at least 18 hours behind schedule,” Mustafa said.

 

Fireworks damper

Rain over the past six days has hit the fireworks industry in Berhampur ahead of Diwali.

The Berhampur fireworks market opens every year at Nilakantha Nagar on the outskirts of the city on Dussehra and continues till Diwali.

More than 40 traders have set up shop this season. Business depends on the supply of crackers from Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu and Nalabanta and Ankuspur in Ganjam district, sources said.

“We have invested lakhs on purchasing crackers, but the rain since November 1 has hit our business hard. About 1,200 retailers, who purchase crackers from this market, have not turned up because of the rain. We have only been able to sell up to 30 per cent of our stock,” said Rajendra Kumar Jena, a trader at the Berhampur fireworks market.

“We have already paid 12.5 per cent VAT and 2 per cent entry tax for the crackers,” he said.