Sunday turned out to be yet another tough day for consumers as they vied with one another to buy onions at the subsidised rate of Rs.20 a kg, at the special counters set up at the Rythu Bazaars.
As the price of onions touched Rs.90 a kg in the open market, most of the customers headed to the Rythu Bazaars though fresh stocks had stopped coming from the Kurnool market yard since Friday.
However, much to their surprise, a lorry load of onions made its way from the Kurnool market yard and officials from the Marketing Department dispatched the stocks to the 17 Rythu Bazaars.
At Swaraj Maidan Rythu Bazaar, serpentine queues were seen at the counters. Braving the heat, customers stood in lines to purchase onions. A few women were seen arguing with the staff for not regulating the queue lines properly.
“How can you allow others when we are standing in the queue for over an hour?” an irate woman asked, one of the Rythu Bazaar staff.
Even as she continued to argue, others in the queue raised their voice criticising the staff for failing to ensure proper mechanism for distribution of onions. As the situation was becoming serious, senior officials intervened and regulated the queue. A majority of customers returned home without buying onions as the stocks vanished in just a few hours.
Estate Officer M. Srinivasa Sastry said as many as 150 bags of onions reached Swaraj Maidan Rythu Bazaar in the morning and the sale began immediately.
When contacted, Krishna District Joint Collector Gandham Chandrudu said over 20.25 metric tonnes of onions reached Vijayawada from Kurnool market yard.
“We are ensuring that the city gets maximum stocks from Kurnool to meet the requirements,” he added.
