Onion prices touch 80 per kg in city

VISAKHAPATNAM: Onion prices are back to making Vizagites weep copious tears as they have not only raced past the depreciating rupee (against the dollar) but also overtaken petrol prices in the Port City on Tuesday.
While the pricey veggie is now going for around Rs 70 per kg in the wholesale market, prices have touched Rs 80 per kilo in the retail market in some parts of the city, including areas such as Siripuram, Seethammadhara, and MVP Colony.Incidentally, the Indian Rupee was pegged at around 66 to a dollar, petrol costs around Rs 73 per litre in the Port City.
With the AP government distributing onions at Rs 20 per kg at the rythu bazaars, serpentine queues were witnessed at most of the rythu bazaars despite many of the customers complaining that the onions were of sub-standard quality. However, many customers had to leave empty-handed as only one kg onion each was distributed and that too only to white-card holders.
"We waited for nearly half-an-hour to collect onions, but the rythu bazaar staff said only white-card holders can take the subsidised onions," said an irate Venkateshwara Rao of MVP Colony, who had to return empty-handed as he had no white-card.
"If the government restricts the common public from taking subsidised onions, where will people like us go? It is really very difficult to pay Rs 70 per kg for an essential veggie." Seething with anger, he said, "People should go and ask their MLAs, why they are not providing any facilities for the common public."
However another customer, P Krishna Murthy, who managed to purchase the onions, complained about the poor quality. "We can't complain too much either, because we can't even dare to touch the onion available in the open market as the prices are too high," he said.
"The other day I saw women literally fighting at the rythu bazaar at Kancharapalem. Why people are dying for onions like this is beyond my comprehension," said senior advocate Kuppili Muralidhar, adding, "People should use less onion and instead switch to garlic. I am worried that some people are hoarding the onions to make a quick buck."
Speaking to TOI, assistant director of rythu bazaars, MS Rao said, "We had arranged for 40 tonnes of onions for distribution on Tuesday morning. These were distributed in five rythu bazaars of Seethammadhara, Gopalapatnam, Narasimhanagar, MVP Colony and Kancharapalem." He said that due to the high demand, an additional 20 tonnes will be brought for distribution in all 12 rythu bazaars of the city on Wednesday.
Explaining the reasons for the rising onion prices, horticulture department deputy director G Prabhakar Rao said, "The drought in Rayalaseema areas such as Anantapur and Kurnool has let to a steep reduction in onion production for the second consecutive year. Even now there are no rains due to which cultivation of fresh crop has not reached its maximum possible extent. Meanwhile, higher exports from Maharashtra to other countries as farmers got a better price has also led to a massive shortfall of onions."