GURUGRAM: Prices of vegetables and groceries have witnessed a rise in prices due to the rise in demand of citizens who are buying in bulk amid the fear of lockdown. Most of the vegetables are being sold out before noon.
Prices of tomatoes, onions are being traded at Rs 50 per kilogram while peas are being sold at Rs 65 per kilogram. Gajendra, a street vendor selling vegetables in DLF Phase-4 claimed that he was out of stock on Friday and he could only sell the fresh inventory of vegetables on Saturday.
"Prices of most of the green vegetables have seen a huge rise due to a rise in demand. The inventory of vegetables is also getting over fast," added Gajendra.
Not only the vegetables but the bulk purchasing from the grocery stores also resulted in the increase in the prices of pulses in the city. While half kg of white chana dal is being sold at Rs 50, half a kilo of arhar dal is being sold at Rs 70.
Most of the residents of Gurugram also took to social media to highlight the bulk purchasing happening in various parts of the city.
"A little precaution is understandable. Hoarding a little more rice and dal for some days is fine but I urge the residents of Gurugram to not go to ridiculous lengths of panic buying," said Manas Fuloria, a resident of Gurugram.
In order to regulate the prices and make sure that no practices of hoarding of essential goods take place, the state Food and Drug Department has formed a special team to monitor the situation.
"I first urge the residents of Gurugram to not believe in rumours that are being circulated. I also want to make sure that all the essential items and vegetable whole sale markets will continue to remain open and there will be no impact on its operations even on March 22 when the city will follow Janta Curfew. I also want to urge that in this challenging time any organisation or individual who want to lend their support can email us at covid19@gurugram@gmail.com," said a senior official from Gurugram district administration.