Essentials beyond commoners' reach in Chattogram
City dwellers allege that authorities concerned are doing nothing to keep the prices of daily essentials under control
One kilogram green bean and spiny gourd have been sold at Tk75, and Tk100, separately, at Chattogram's Kazir Dewri kitchen market on Friday.
The previous prices were Tk60 and Tk80 at Chawkbazar kitchen market, Tk55 and Tk70 at Oxygen market, and Tk65 and Tk80 at the city's Lalkhan Bazar, respectively.
Almost all the daily essentials, especially vegetables, are being sold at extra prices in different kitchen markets of the port city.
But the vegetable growers of Sitakunda, Mirsharai, Hathazari, Dohazari, and Chandanaish, Chattogram city's adjacent areas, usually sell green bean and spiny gourd at about Tk35 and Tk40 per kg, respectively.
The extra prices of almost all the vegetables are taking the hardest hit on the city's lower-middle people, where almost all kitchen market traders in the city do not keep any price lists at their shops.
City dwellers allege that authorities concerned are doing nothing to keep the prices of daily essentials under control.
Salah Uddin, a vegetable grower from Mirsharai said, they sell almost all of their vegetable at Tk30 to Tk40 to wholesalers.
Traders must display price list at their shops, as per the Consumers' Right Protection Act. But most of the traders are violating the law, said S M Nazer Hossain, vice-president of the central executive committee of Consumers Association of Bangladesh.
Mizanur Rahman, a private company employee, expressed discontent over the prevailing irregularities said: ''The prices of vegetables at the city's kitchen market are out of people's purchasing capacity. Different sellers are charging different prices for even a specific product.''
To avoid penalties by mobile courts, the traders display price lists only in the month of Ramadan, said a trader of the Kazir Dewri kitchen market.
Abdul Jalil, general secretary of traders' association of the Kazir Dewri kitchen market, admitted that the traders do not maintain price lists at their shops, there.
Abdul, however, claimed the traders of the market make a profit of only Tk5 to Tk10 for the sale of per kg vegetables.