A potato trader at a Bhubaneswar market. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Nov. 4: What Phailin could not do to the potato price, a restriction by the Bengal government has done. Potato prices have reached Rs 30 a kilogram at retail outlets across the city since last evening.

Annual production of the tuber in the state is 1.75 lakh to 1.8 lakh tonnes against the annual demand of five lakh tonnes. The rest comes from Bengal.

It, therefore, becomes a burden on the people whenever any restriction or transportation problem arises.

Traders attributed the rise to the restrictions imposed by the Bengal government to have sufficient stocks for their internal supply. But, an official of the civil supplies department said talks with their Bengal counterparts were on and a 40 truckload of potatoes will reach the city tomorrow.

The state’s civil supplies secretary Madhusudan Padhi said: “The Bengal government has introduced a centralised permit system through which the potato traders have to apply for permit in Calcutta to transport potatoes to Odisha. We are taking up the matter with the Bengal government to ease the situation.”

Padhi, however, said 49 truckload of potatoes have reached Bhubaneswar today as against 25 truckload on daily basis.

Pokhariput resident Pitambar Parida said: “Yesterday, as the wholesale price at Unit-I was Rs 25 a kilogram, the price in retail outlets reached Rs 30-a-kg.”

The tuber was selling at Rs 12-a-kg just before Phailin attack, but panic buying created problem and the price reached Rs 20 for two to three days. After a week of the cyclone, the price again came to Rs 12-a-kg.

Last week, the rate reached Rs 20-a-kg as the supply started receding from Bengal. Yesterday, the retail price at Unit-I market reached Rs 25-a-kg.

President of the Unit-I Daily Market Traders’ Association Gayadhar Swain said: “The situation has resulted because of short supply. The state government should take steps to bring in more potatoes from Bengal. While the city and its outskirts need around 30 truckload of potatoes a day, the supply has come to 10 or 12 truckload.”

“As there is less stock in the godowns, such deficit has arisen in the market leading to the price hike,” said an official.

In Cuttack, one kilogram of potato is being sold at between Rs 27 to Rs 30 at the retail market in the city.

An official of the Chhatrabazar Byabasaik Sangha blamed on short supply from Bengal for the potato price hike. Secretary of the traders’ association Devendra Sahu said that earlier everyday around 12 to 15 truckload of potatoes reached Chhatrabazar, while the supply has been restricted to only three truckload of potatoes a day now.