Prices of essentials rise on transport disruption

Disruption caused to the transportation of goods due to political tension led to the hike in prices of essentials in the city on Monday, traders said.
Trading of essentials in the city's key wholesale markets was disrupted. This also caused the hike, they said.     
The city's major kitchen markets including Banalata Kitchen Market at New Market, Hatirpool Bazar, Karwan Bazar, Mohammadpur Krishi Market, Mirpur Section-6 Kitchen Market, Shah Ali Bazar at Mirpur Section-1, Fokirer Pool Bazar, Rayer Bazar, Moulovibazar, Shyam Bazar and Nawabganj Bazar witnessed lesser presence of buyers on the day.  
Prices of a few vegetables including leafy vegetable, bitter gourd, chilli, brinjal, newly-harvested onion, cucumber, edible oils like soybean and super palm increased on Monday in the city's kitchen markets compared to that on Sunday.
Prices of vegetables increased by Tk 3-10 per piece or per kg while soybean (loose form) and super palm increased by Tk 2-4 per kg on the day.
Different varieties of brinjal sold at Tk 40-50 per kg, chilli at Tk 40-50, onion at Tk 32-36 (local), cucumber at Tk 25-30, bitter gourd at Tk 60-65 and spinach at Tk 8-10 per bunch on the day.
Md Rafiqul Islam, a vegetable retailer at Companighat under Hazaribagh area, told the FE that prices of vegetable, which are generally brought in from distant districts increased both at wholesale and retail markets in Dhaka.
He said chilli prices increased by Tk 2-3 per kg at the Rayer Bazar wholesale just in a day.
"I bought cucumber at Tk 75 per palla (5 kg) on Sunday. The price increased to Tk 90-92 per palla on Monday," he said.
Md Islam also said most of the retailers sold products of Sunday as supply of vegetable was limited at wholesale markets.  
Md Abdul Kader, a vegetable trader at Karwan Bazar in the city said that transportation came to a standstill from Sunday evening.
Many trucks, loaded with vegetables, didn't leave the districts for Dhaka causing a supply shortage on Monday morning.
He said trading almost came to a halt in most of the wholesale markets on Monday due to the political tension.
He said if this trend continues, prices of most of the vegetables will begin to increase further despite a bumper harvest.  
However, according to private transport companies, they suspended operation of transports from Sunday afternoon in the wake of volatile political situation in the country.  
Meanwhile, edible oil soybean (loose) sold at Tk 104-106 per kg and super palm at Tk 80-82 per kg at retail on Monday which was Tk 102-104 and Tk 76-78 respectively a day back.
Md Manik, an edible oil retailer at Nawabganj Bazar in the city said retailers failed to get oil from the Moulvibazar wholesale market on the day as most of the trading houses remained closed.
"Supply shortage forced the sellers to increase the prices", he said.
However, prices of rice, sugar, salt, flour, egg, meat, pulse, tea and other commodities were static on the day.
Secretary of Moulvibazar Wholesale Merchants Association Haji Mohammad Golam Moula told the FE that the number of buyers was very low on the day as everyone was in fear and tension across the city.
He said: "We, the businessmen, are foreseeing that bad days like those of 2013 are returning."
He said traders incurred huge losses in 2013 due to more than 100 days of blockades and hartals.
He urged the political parties for coming to negotiation to save the businesses for the betterment of the country and for the sake of the common consumers.
Panic and tension seized the people across the city for the last few days as the main political parties are now engaged in political confrontation over the last national general election held on January 5, 20014.
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