Potato bags being unloaded at a Bhubaneswar godown. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 11: Barely 24 hours after food and supplies minister Sanjay Dasbarma claimed that potato crisis was over following talks between chief minister Naveen Patnaik and his Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee, shortage of the tuber is back to haunt consumers.

The minister today claimed that the neighbouring state government had imposed an undeclared ban on the supply of potato to Odisha and several truckloads of the vegetable were stranded on the border.

Around 90 trucks of potatoes have come to the state in the last three days. Officials said that yesterday only four trucks had entered the state from Bengal following a telephonic conversation between the two chief ministers.

The committee tasked with evolving a contingency plan to prevent recurrence of such crises today held a meeting under the chairmanship of Dasbarma. He said that even the traders in Bengal were not happy with their government decision and had started an agitation complaining that they were incurring heavy losses due to the restrictions.

“We are waiting for the outcome of their agitation and hope that the deadlock will be resolved,” he said.

Dasbarma also said there was enough stock of potato in the cold storages and his department would provide those to the people at reasonable rates.

While 32,000 quintal potato is available in Bhubaneswar, 34,800 quintal in available in Cuttack and 20,000 quintal in Balasore.

“We will keep selling potato at our control shops, fair price centres and Udyan Fresh counters at the usual Rs 20 per kg with maximum two kg per person,” he said.

However, all eyes are on Balasore that borders Bengal and serves as the entry point for the goods coming from the neighbouring state. Officials of food and supply department, district police and transport department are on vigil in Balasore.

Balasore collector Aravinda Agrawal said that he spoke to his East Midnapore counterpart and was told that he had no instruction to allow trucks into Odisha. More than 200 potato-loaded trucks are stranded on the Bengal side.

Yesterday few trucks drove in from Bengal through the Laxmannath gate and today the count was around 40.

These vehicles crossed the border through different routes. “We are periodically updating the government about the development here,” said Agrawal.

Besides, BJD activists who had detaining Bengal-bound trucks carrying food items in retaliation to the ban on supply of potato from the neighbouring state have threatened to resume the agitation.

The rate of potato, however, has dropped a bit than the last few days. Apprehensive that the price might rise again, people were seen buying potato in large quantities in city markets.

Bhubaneswar traders said that today three trucks reached the state and these vehicles came through Jharkhand.

“We want the state government to raise this issue in Parliament as it is an inter-state trade matter,” said Sudhakar Panda, secretary of All Odisha Byabasayi Mahasangha.

In another development, agriculture minister Pradeep Maharathy said that the current potato crisis in the state had arisen due to lack of enough cold storage and the government had taken the matter seriously.

“We are going to set up around 15 such storage facilities across the state. Besides, one such cold storage each will be inaugurated at Panikoili and Titlagarh in the state within one month,” said the agriculture minister.