Jamshedpur: Concerned with the artificial crisis and low supply of potato in the State, the trade bodies have decided write to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren to end the stalemate.
Discussing on other business and especially on the condition and price of potatoes in Jamshedpur, chamber decided to take initiatives in context to unwanted price hike and less supply of potatoes from West-Bengal, as more than 90 per cent of potato supply is from Bengal.
The prices of the tuber had come down from Rs 38 a Kg to 25 a Kg last week, bringing a respite, but the prices have once again shot up to Rs 34-35 a Kg .
A shopkeeper of Parsudih Bazar Samiti, Kumar Nitin said that the condition has gone out of their control. He revealed that the 90 per cent of the potato supply is from West- Bengal and despite ban on the supply of potato from Bengal, if any transporter tries to cross the Bengal border with potato loaded truck, he is stopped by police and is demanded hefty amount of bribe which results in unwanted price hike here.
Officials said that looking at the crisis of potatoes which affects both the consumers as well as the shopkeepers, samiti had made contact with chamber to take a step forward to solve the issue.
� The unrelenting attack of inflation on the common man has taken it’s toll on the business & economy too. More so the Food Inflation, which has made our domestic budget go hay wire,� said a trader. We have been approached by many Potatoes wholesalers, that their paid stocks of potatoes, on their way to Jharkhand have been held up by West Bengal Government at the borders of SInghbhum, Dhanbad, and Sahebganj.
�People argue with us for rise in price of our dishes. But, we are helpless as the price rise affects us badly. The government should take some steps to put a check on the uncontrolled rise in vegetable price,� said Krupasindhu Bhoi, a roadside eatery owner.
Even vendors selling gupchup, alu chop and alu dum, who depend heavily on potato, have also reduced the quantity of their items owing to the price rise.
Officials of the civil supplies department today visited various godowns and stock centres of potato and other vegetables to check hoarding. They checked the quantity of stocks, rate of potato and ensured that the rate did not go up further.
Sources said that 350 to 400 truckloads of potato come to the state from Bengal every day. But the Bengal government has put restriction on the supply, making it mandatory for traders to obtain permits for transporting potato to their state, which takes five to six days. Many trucks have been detained on the inter-state borders because of this.
