The worst fears of consumers came true on Sunday with the price of onion (medium variety) shooting up to ₹250 a kg in Chittoor district.
The price of the third grade variety, which is on the verge of rotting, touched the ₹200-mark.
At the vegetable market in Chittoor, three varieties were kept on sale with their prices ranging between ₹180 and ₹ 250 a kg.
Consumers who found it difficult to procure onion being sold at a subsidised price of ₹25 a kg in the rythu bazaars were reaching the retail market, only to be stunned on seeing ₹250 on the price tag.
Their attempts to procure the lesser priced varieties failed due to the rotting stocks.
While a majority of the consumers chose to avoid onion and adjust with other vegetables available at affordable rates, a few others were forced to take home smaller quantities.
In Tirupati, the corner that usually sells onion looked deserted, and the regular scene of heaps of onion was missing. At prime corners, the stock was found in small quantum of various sizes, commanding formidable price.
At the market in Puttur, onion was sold for ₹240 a kg. The two other rotting and small sized varieties were priced at ₹200 and ₹160 a kg. With no option, many consumers were force to buy the top variety, which was sold for ₹150 a kg the previous week.
Reports reaching here said that onion was sold for ₹200 a kg in Madanapalle. In the tail-end regions of V. Kota and Kuppam, the presence of onion had come down as there were no takers.
‘A gamble’
A vendor in Chittoor said that he procured the stocks for ₹210 a kg. “I find it a misadventure to sell it at a profit of ₹40 per kg. I am virtually playing a gamble with these perishable goods. But the consumers think we are cheating them,” he said.
Meanwhile, serpentine queues were seen at the rythu bazaars in Chittoor and Tirupati.
In Tirupati, heavy traffic jam was reported on the Rayalacheruvu Road as the queue lines extended up to a distance of over 2 km. Police personnel were deployed at the rythu bazaars to control the frenzied surge of consumers.
Assistant Director (Marketing) P. Gopi said that the situation was likely to continue till the end of Sankranti.
“We are constantly procuring stocks from Kurnool for subsidised sale in the rythu bazaars,” he said.
Crowds get restive
Special Correspondent in Nellore writes:
A large number of people standing in serpentine queue to buy their quota of subsidised onion lost their cool, forcing the police to intervene on Sunday.
Hundreds of people lined up in the queue in the rythu bazaar at Fatekhanpet even before the sale of onion began in the morning.
After standing in queue for hours, they grew impatient. They started pushing each other when some persons tried to break the queue, the police said.
Sensing that the situation was going out of control, the officials called the police who restored order. The sale restarted later under the watchful eyes of the police.
Long queue was also seen at the Nawabpeta Rythu Bazaar as people thronged it from 7 a.m. onwards.
