Onion, Potato prices rise in Odisha

Potato and onion prices are rising in Odisha and people fear that if no steps are taken to check the prices, the situation may go out of control like it did last November.

Potato, which used to cost around Rs 12 a kg till a few days ago, is now sold at Rs 17. The price of onion, too, climbed by around Rs 5 to touch Rs 18 a kg in Bhubaneswar.

The Samajwadi Party on Saturday urged the State Government to check the artificial hike in the prices of potato and onion in the State.

Party State president Rabi Behera in a memorandum to the Food Supplies and Consumer Affairs Secretary said the unscrupulous traders and hoarders are creating artificial scarcity of essential commodities like potato, onion, dal, oil and sugar taking advantage of the election time due to which common people are suffering the most.

Behera urged the Government to conduct raids on the godowns of the traders and arrest those found guilty.

However, a trader said the price rise was not very high and there was no need to panic. They said that normally in April, the supply of products from farmers come to an end and the potato and onion kept in cold storages take some time to come to market.