Top cop urges sellers to stop onion hoarding

Kolkata: Kolkata Police Commissioner Anuj Sharma on Tuesday visited Koley market and Posta market and urged sellers not to hoard onions more than 25 metric tonne. Fair price shops across the city saw unprecedented rush of customers to avail onions at subsided price. Temporary Sufal Bangla retail outlet at Jadubabur Bazar also sold onions at 59 per kg.

"I am seeing the prices are gradually coming down and the government has also intervened by making arrangements to sell onions at subsidized price through ration shops and sufal bangla stalls," said Sharma, after inspecting Koley market, a huge wholesale fruit and vegetable market located at Sealdah.

"Three trucks of onion came from Nasik at Koley market today. Earlier, the cost price of onions coming from Nasik was ranged between Rs 110 and Rs 130. The cost price of the same onions had gone down to Rs 70 today. It is expected that the price of onion will be available at the market at Rs 50 by first week January next year," said Bishal, onion merchant at Sealdah's Koley market.

According to sources, the state government is procuring onions at Rs 80 from the dealers and selling it at Sufal Bangla outlets and fair price shops at subsidized rate of Rs 59 per kg.

While the price of onions has shot up throughout the country due to a shortage of supply from Nasik, the price of onion touched Rs 150 in Kolkata last week.

In a bid to bring down the onion price union, state food department officials, state agricultural market officials and fair price shop owners conducted an emergency meeting on the skyrocketing onion prices at Khadya Bhawan on Sunday. During the meeting it was decided that onions will be available at all the 935 fair price shops in the city at Rs 59 per kg per family from Monday.

"When I went to the fair price shop, I saw long queues. To avail onion at Rs 59 per kg from fair price shop, we have to give written requisition a day before," said Sajid Iqbal resident of Samsul Huda Road.

"We are distributing onions through fair price at Rs 59 per kg per family on first come first serve basis," said Biswambhar Basu, general secretary of All India Fair Price Shop Dealers Federation.