Prices of several vegetables and fish have spiralled over the past two days, as trucks carrying supplies remain stranded because of waterlogged roads in Calcutta.

Wholesalers and retailers said that while trucks carrying goods from other states
were unable to enter the wholesale markets in the city, those that had arrived from the districts could not move out as water levels continued to rise in.

This pushed up prices of vegetables and fish, they said.

“Nearly 70 trucks and vans reach Koley market in Sealdah every day, carrying vegetables from other states and the districts. If this movement gets disrupted, the effect is felt on the markets,” said Kamal Dey, a task force member and president of the West Bengal Vegetable Vendors’ Association.

The impact was felt in the retail market, with prices of vegetables shooting up by at least ₹10. (See chart).

“Prices of some of the vegetables remained on the higher side on Thursday,” said Kanai Lal Ghosh, a vegetable seller in Kasba.

Traders said the wholesale vegetable markets in and around Calcutta, including Koley market, Dhulargah in Howrah and Amtala in South 24-Parganas, witnessed a supply-demand mismatch.

The supply was affected as trucks and vans did not turn up with their consignments, they said.

Usually, heavy rains would leave the farmlands inundated. However, Calcutta’s rising water levels throughout Tuesday meant that vegetables remained unaffected in the fields — they just didn’t reach the markets.

At Koley market, the floods dealt a severe blow to the traders as vegetables had to be dumped at Dhapa after they started to rot.

With the festive season setting in, officers of the agriculture and agri-marketing department met their counterparts in other departments and some members of the task force on Thursday.

Officers who attended the meeting said the primary focus was to ensure that the supply chain remained unaffected and that there was no hoarding.

“Intensive checks will be launched to weed out any attempts at hoarding,” an officer said.

The prices of several varieties of fish remained high on Thursday, with the traders blaming the wholesale markets for not having enough supplies.

“The supply has been irregular for the last few days. The Howrah and Sealdah wholesale markets have not been able to meet the demands,” said Narayan Das, a fish seller at Maniktala retail fish market.