In Naogaon's Atrai, the unbridled prices of vegetables are disorienting the low income people. The middle class people are in dire straits too. No vegetables are available in the rural markets of the upazila below the price of Tk 50-60 per kg. Due to the lack of monitoring by the field level administration, the wholesale and retail vendors are selling vegetables at high prices by defying the prices fixed by the government. Local wholesalers said that every year at this time, farmers bring a large quantity of vegetables from the village to the market, but due to floods and intermittent heavy rains, early varieties of vegetables have been severely damaged.
Therefore, the buyers are forced to buy vegetables at high prices due to the decrease in the import of vegetables in the market. Md Mizanur Rahman, a vegetable trader in Sahebganj Bazar located at the head of the upazila, said that in the current season, the vegetable farmers could not grow vegetables as expected due to rain. So, since the import in the market is low, I am buying vegetables by keeping a little profit over the wholesale price. As the prices of vegetables are increasing every day without restraint, there are incidents like verbal abuse with customers while buying and selling at the retail level. Despite that, the vegetable market is slightly decreasing this week compared to last week.
Vegetable trader Abdur Razzak said that although the government fixed the price of potatoes is Tk 35 per kg, we are retailing at Tk 60. We are selling potal, bitter gourd and brinjal at the rate of Tk 60, onion at Tk 120, cabbage at Tk 120, Shim at Tk 120, and green chilies at Tk 400 per kg. Because we are buying, we are forced to sell at a higher price. But it will take time to come to normal level. Hasan, Enamul, Shihab, Maryam, Roshan Ara Shila said, due to heavy rains, we have no work.
Then we are struggling to run the family due to the increase in the price of daily commodities in the market. We would have benefited if potatoes and other daily necessities were sold in the open market by the government. Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Sanjita Biswas said that operations are underway in various haats and markets to control market prices. Action will be taken against any complaint of selling more than the price fixed by the government.
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