“As it is fruit was expensive and out of our reach, now the vegetables are also catching up,” said one woman after inquiring after the rate of onions at a vegetable vendor’s at Korangi Crossing. The woman was promptly informed by the vendor that he was not the one responsible for raising costs as he himself got the vegetables at a high rate from the vegetable mandi.
“The rates have gone up there. This is not my fault. I also have to make an earning so that I can feed my family,” he pointed out.
“The cost of even the most basic vegetables is on the rise now. I mean how does one expect us to even cook lentils without onions or tomatoes?”. Tomatoes, which one could buy for Rs50 to Rs60 a kilo last week only, are available now for over Rs100 per kg.
“Tomato is a delicate plant. It gets ruined in rain if the ground gets flooded. The entire crop gets ruined that way and so there is a sudden shortage in the market,” he explained.
Another vendor in PECHS said that not just rain, all kinds of extreme weather conditions can have a negative impact on the tomato crop.
“The tomatoes you see in our market right now are neither coming from Sindh, nor Punjab.
It is coming from Iran now, and transporting it here through Balochistan also adds to its costliness,” he explained. Other vegetables that have also shocked buyers with their rising prices are the bitter gourd or karela and okra/ladyfinger or bhindi.
“Well, it is not that expensive,” a vegetable seller in Saddar tried to reason.
“Two days ago, bhindi was selling at Rs140 per kg and it is Rs150 now. Similarly, karela was selling at Rs100 per kg earlier and now it is Rs110,” he provided.
