Veggies too costly Prices spiral up to 40pc for 2-day truck strike

The prices of vegetables in the city markets soared in the last two days, in some cases up to 40 percent, due to a 48-hour countrywide strike enforced by the truck and covered-van owners.
The strike that ended yesterday morning has created a supply crunch at the city's wholesale kitchen markets since most of the vehicles refrained from transporting goods to the capital.
The prices of green chilli, bitter gourd, ladies finger and cucumber shot up yesterday besides a slight increase in prices of sugar and soybean oil.
“Today I bought 5kg bitter gourd at Tk 120, which was Tk 100 a day ago at Shyambazar,” said Ismail Hawlader, a vegetable vendor at Wari of Old Dhaka.
“So I am selling each kg bitter gourd at Tk 30 to make a reasonable profit,” he said. The prices of cucumber and ladies finger also went up yesterday due to supply shortage, he added.
Retailers at Karwan Bazar kitchen market were charging Tk 25 for a kg of ladies finger instead of Tk 20 two days ago.
"The prices of vegetables are too high for the ordinary people,'' said Md Abdul Majid, a retired government official, who was buying goods from a roadside kitchen market near the Azimpur Chhapra Mosque.
“I bought one kg green chilli at Tk 80 yesterday, which was Tk 50 a week ago,” said Majid.
Department of Agricultural Marketing said one kg green chilli was traded at Tk 40-70 yesterday.
To help boost supply during the month of Ramadan, the government on Monday imposed a ban on export of green chilli, brinjal, onion and garlic until August 31.
Meanwhile, despite a rise in supplies, sugar price also increased yesterday as demand rose ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr.
Sugar, at retail shops, was traded between Tk 54 and Tk 55 a kg, which was 3.84 percent higher compared to the previous week, according to Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).
Egg price, however, fell marginally and was traded at Tk 34-35 every four pieces instead of Tk 35-36 a week ago.
The price of loose soybean oil rose to Tk 123-124 a kg from Tk 120-122 in the previous week, TCB statistics say.
However, the prices of some vegetables and spices such as potato, onion and garlic remained stable yesterday.
The wholesalers at Karwan Bazar also agreed that the prices of some kitchen items increased due to the 48-hour strike. “The strike has obviously hit the Kitchen market,” said Lokman Hossain, general secretary of Kawran Bazar Khuddro Kachamal Aarot Babshayi Bahumukhi Samabay Samity Ltd, a platform of kitchen market wholesalers.
Bangladesh Truck-Covered Van Transport Agency Malik-Sramik Oikya Parishad enforced the strike demanding relief from extortion and harassment by police.
Around 1,000 trucks and covered-vans loaded with vegetables and fruits enter this market everyday. The number went down to 270-300 on Thursday night, he said.
“So, it [strike] clearly has disrupted the supply chain process, pushing the prices of some vegetable items up,” said Lokman.
He said the vegetable growers had to pay extra money for carrying goods to Dhaka due to the strike. “As a result, the prices of a few vegetable items went up yesterday.”
But, he hoped the prices would come down at a reasonable level within the next couple of days when supplies would increase.