Bhubaneswar, Nov. 7: The holy month of Kartik has become costly for the people with vegetable prices skyrocketing.

With vegetables such as pointed gourd and tomato costing Rs 60 and Rs 35, respectively, many mouth-watering curries dishes seem to be slowly disappearing from people’s daily menu. Even a fortnight ago pointed gourd and tomato cost Rs 40 and Rs 20, respectively.

“Both the month of Kartik and the ‘panchak’ are most auspicious occasions in an Oriya family. For one month, there is an unusual surge in the demand for vegetables. However, this year during the floods many prominent belts producing green vegetables were affected. So, the production has been badly hit and this could have triggered a price hike. The prices of vegetables are likely to remain high for another three weeks. After that the rates would gradually go down,” said Gayadhar Swain, general secretary of Unit-I Market Traders Association.

“This has become a cyclic phase every year during winter. When the supply is more than demand, the rates will naturally fall. I guess the rates would go down from the first week of December,” Swain said.

Jasaswini Mohapatra, a homemaker from Soubhagya Nagar Phase II area, said: “The rising prices of vegetables are causing holes in many pockets. It’s unbelievable that pointed gourd costs Rs 60 and coriander leaves are being sold at Rs 200 a kg. This should not happen because the farmer, who produces the vegetables, is not getting anything from the high-end pricing. Rather, the middlemen are reaping the benefits.”

However, Tapas Dalei, another senior member of the traders’ body at Unit-I market, felt that it will take at least a month for prices to get back to normal levels.

“Many people are thinking that the prices will reduce within a fortnight. But it will take around a month as the flood affected the fields badly. Once the prices go down, they are likely to remain steady till the first week of March,” said Dalei.

Kananbala Swain, an advocate of vegetarianism, said: “There should be some control by the state government so that the authorities can have a say in the pricing of quality produce. A rise in the prices of brinjal, pumpkin, raw banana, beans, capsicum, country beans, pointed gourd, carrot, tomatoes and papaya have affected the religious-minded people most.”

Most of the farmers bring their produce to a farmers’ haat to sell those. Secretary of the haat Lingaraj Mohanty said: “Traditional vegetable-producing belts such as Athgarh, Pipili, Chandaka, banks of the Kuakhai river, Baghamari, Balanga, Teisipur, Chandanpur, Brahmagiri, Adasapur, Telenga Pentha, Erranj, Kabasth, Nimapara and Phool Nakhara started their farming for the vegetables late after the flood. So, as soon as the new produce hits the markets, the prices would fall.”

“This season, the vegetable produce will be more because of the deposition of humus in the soil during the floods. So, the prices will fall dramatically once the new produce arrives,” Mohanty added.