Bhubaneswar, December 5 (LocalWire) With price of onions soaring to exorbitant height, crossing Rs 100-a-kg, the middle class households are feeling the pinch of prohibitive price rise of the culinary staple.
As a result onions have vanished from household kitchens.
The onion price rise has become a daily ritual.
It had made overnight jump to Rs 120 to 130 a kg from yesterday’s price of Rs 100-a-kg.
Unless the supply chain increases, the price will continue to remain on the upward.
The State receives onions from Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
The supply from these producing areas has thinned down leading to the upward spiral of onion price, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Ranedra Pratap Swain told reporters here today.
We expect scenario to improve towards the December last week or January first week.
The fresh produce is expected from these producing States in a month, he said.
Though the minister claimed to have opened 256 fair price shops across the State providing people at subsidized price of Rs 50 to Rs 60, reports reaching here from various parts indicate that the shops are functioning on paper only.
Odisha is a consuming State. Of the required demand, the State produces a meager 25% of the crop.
So the State is dependent on producing states like Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra to meet with the markets’ demand.
Kalahandi is the major onion producing district of the State, said an official of State agriculture department.
With price rise pinching our pockets, we had rationed the staple diet to a kilogram per four days.
That was when price hovered around Rs 60 to 70.
With price crossing Rs 100 mark since past two days, we have stopped buying onions altogether, said a homemaker from Unit-6 area in the city, Ranjeeta Mohapatra.
I have stopped selling onions since yesterday. There are no buyers.
I had procured 2 quintals of onions last week from the wholesale market.
With great difficulty, half of it could be sold.
Around a quintal of onions perished, said a trader in Saheed Nagar haat in the city.
LocalWire