As the festive spirit comes back to the city after over two years, so do the sky high prices of flowers, fruits and vegetables.
While getting ready to celebrate Varamahalakshmi festival, which falls on Friday this week, without any pandemic restrictions, the residents of the city are not thinking twice before splurging at the markets. The demand, which is expected to stay high throughout the month, and the continuous rainfall have contributed to the price rise.
Jasmine continues to dominate the flower market at ₹1,500 per kg, a steep rise from ₹800 per kg last week. This is followed by crossandra (Kanakambara), which went up from ₹1,300 per kg to ₹2,400 as of Tuesday. At the Malleswaram fruit market, the price of apple has gone up to ₹330 per kg and pomegranate up to ₹75 per kg.
“We want to celebrate Varamahalakshmi in a huge and grand way. We are excited to be able to go to relatives’ houses and celebrate festivities,” said Geeta Hegde, a homemaker who was buying fruits and flowers at the market. She was not concerned about the increased prices and was zealous to decorate her house.
Although the vegetable prices have shot up, the vendors were not too happy as many of their customers have turned to online markets and supermarkets in recent years for their festive shopping. “My business isn’t what it was 3 or 4 years ago, but it’s still fine. Nowadays, people generally flock towards fancy supermarkets. The sales had been bad for a few days, but now it is slowly gaining momentum. I am hopeful the trend will continue until Dasara festival is over,” said Santhosh Kumar, a vegetable vendor in Jalahalli.
The prices of vegetables remained high throughout July. This week, the prices are up by an average of ₹10 per vegetable for the festival. The price of beans, carrot and capsicum was at ₹70, ₹80, and ₹90 respectively at the Yeshwanthpur market.
