Sylhet Bureau :
Prices of essential commodities, such as ginger, green chili, brinjal, have gone up in different city markets as holy month of Ramadan started friday.
The sellers have taken advantage of the fact that consumers must buy certain items during Ramadan and jacked up their prices.
While visiting separate markets in the city this correspondent found that retailers are selling commodities at high prices and blamed the soaring prices for shortage of supply. Traders said they could not buy sufficient items from the wholesale markets for sales.
Consumers claimed that the vegetable vendors made the unusual hike only to despite existing normal supply in the name of lacking of proper supply.
The retailers charged an extra Tk 10 to Tk 15 per kg of various kinds of essentials.
Saleh Ahmed, a restaurant businessman while buying essentials at the Bandarbazar market on Monday told this correspondent that the vendors were charging Tk 60 for per kg of green chili which was Tk 40 earlier.
Visiting the kitchen markets at Bandar Bazar, Shubidbazar, Amborkhana, and Shibganj kitchen markets, the reporter found that vegetables were selling at exorbitant prices. Tamoto was selling for Tk 50 a kg, green chili Tk 60, brinjal Tk 70, cucumber Tk 40, carrot Tk 70 and okra Tk 40.
Beside, the prices of local spices including onion, turmeric, ginger and vegetable like potato were selling at high prices.
Meanwhile, the prices of rice remained unchanged. Coarse rice was selling between Tk 32 and Tk 34 a kg while najirshail at Tk 46 per kg. Price of pajam was Tk 32 per kg yesterday, while kataribhogh was sold at Tk 65 per kg and Irri at Tk 32 per kg in the city’s kitchen markets. In the retail markets, Ruhi fish was selling at Tk 300 per kg, koi at Tk 280 a kg, big-sized koi at Tk 400 per kg, local variety of catfish at Tk 550-700 per kg, eel fish at Tk 400-600 per kg, medium-size shrimp at Tk 600 per kg and small shrimp at Tk 500 a kg.
In most of the city’s kitchen markets, local onion was selling at Tk 50 a kg, imported onion was sold at Tk 40 per kg, imported garlic at Tk 120 per kg, small sized garlic (local) at Tk 150 per kg, ginger at Tk 90 per kg, lentil at Tk 120 per kg, potato at Tk 25-30 per kg, patal at Tk 40 per kg, egg at Tk35- 40 per hali (four pieces), okra at Tk 40. Sugar was selling at Tk 40 per kg in the city’s kitchen markets.
Local chickens were selling between Tk 250 and Tk 500 per piece while broiler chickens at Tk 160-170 per kg.
Each kg of beef was selling at Tk 500 and mutton at Tk 550 in the city’s kitchen markets.
Drive to control prices of essentials
Market monitoring cells in Sylhet administration conducted drives in city’s different kitchen markets to control the price hike of essentials during the holy Ramzan.
The team led by Additional District Magistrate Umme Salik Rumaya visited Bandarbazar kitchen market and Lalbazar kitchen market on Tuesday.
The team, however, did not find any irregularities. During the visit, Umme Salik Rumaya urged businessmen not to earn abnormal profit during the holy month. He also asked leaders of kitchen market committee to hang price list of essential commodities everyday so that traders cannot charge extra prices from customers.
From now on, the market monitoring cell will conduct drive at kitchen markets everyday to restrain skyrocket prices of essentials, she said, adding that legal action will be taken.
