Odisha asks West Bengal to lift curbs on potato supplies

Faced with acute scarcity of potatoes due to curbs imposed by the West Bengal government on movement of tuber laden trucks, the Odisha government has urged the neighbouring state to lift the restrictions.

Odisha chief secretary, G C Pati wrote to his West Bengal counterpart, Sanjay Mitra, urging him to remove the undeclared curbs and facilitate regular supply of potatoes in the larger interest of the consumers. “Our state’s daily requirement of potato is about 2,500-3,000 tonne, most of which is sourced from West Bengal during this time of the year. At present, against the normal requirement, we are getting only about 25 per cent in the last 7-8 days. As a result, the price of potato in the retail market has gone up sharply, creating distress for consumers. The potato traders of Odisha have also expressed their helplessness as they petitioned that their people are being harassed while getting potato from West Bengal”, Pati said in the letter to the West Bengal chief secretary.

The state’s potato crisis had improved towards the middle of August with steady movement of trucks carrying potato from West Bengal. But the situation has worsened in the last 10 days with retail prices of the tuber touching Rs 35 a kg.

Amid escalating prices, the state government has announced that potato would be sold through the public distribution system (PDS) and government-controlled Maitree shops from Thursday.

“The collectors have been asked to fix the price of potato in their districts after taking into consideration the stock situation”, said food supplies & consumer welfare minister, Sanjay Dasburma.

To offer a lasting solution to the recurring potato crises, the state government has notified a task force headed by secretary, agriculture & food production. The task force is mandated to prepare a long-term action plan for production, preservation and distribution of potato and is expected to submit its report soon.