City getting only 20 per cent vegetable supply from HP due to road closures

Road connectivity from Himachal Pradesh to Ludhiana has been snapped, badly hitting the supply of vegetables to the city due to the recent flood fury in the hill state, especially in the Kullu-Mandi region. The city is receiving only about 20 per cent of its usual supply of seasonal vegetables from Himachal Pradesh — that too from the Shimla side — while no produce is arriving from the Kullu-Manali region.

The disruption has led to a sharp spike in prices of almost all seasonal vegetables. Tomato — a key ingredient in most Indian dishes — is selling at Rs 100-110 per kg, making it difficult for the common man to afford.

Pushpa, a domestic helper, said buying tomatoes was almost impossible. “Not just tomatoes, capsicum is selling at Rs 160 per kg, cauliflower Rs 100 per kg and French beans over Rs 150 per kg. People like us cannot afford these rates. Hence, we are switching to pulses and soya chunks, which are cheaper. Every year during these two months, prices shoot up like anything,” she said.

Amarvir Singh, an arhtiya in the local vegetable market and a representative of the Hotel and Restaurant Association, said for the past four days, roads to the Kullu-Manali area had been closed, crippling supplies.

“Seasonal vegetables nowadays come from Himachal Pradesh. If the supply is disrupted, people will face higher prices. The demand-supply chain has been hit due to the natural calamities. With only about 20 per cent of seasonal vegetables arriving in mandis, prices are bound to skyrocket. Things will normalise once roads reopen,” he said.

Meanwhile, vendors and retailers said due to soaring prices of vegetables, even they had cut-down on the quantity of vegetables. “I used to buy vegetables worth Rs 4,000-5,000 a day but now in this amount, I get much less quantity of seasonal vegetables,” said Manoj Kumar, a vegetable vendor, selling vegetables on doorsteps in the Ghumar Mandi area.