Salt scarcity rumour adds to consumers' woes

Potato availability improves with arrival of new stock from West Bengal

Rumours about scarcity of salt in the market has added to the woes of the consumers, who have been pinched hard by acute short-supply of kitchen’s favourite vegetable potato over the past one week.

Though the traders claimed to have ample stock of common salt with them, people, driven by rumours fuelled by some unscrupulous elements, were seen lining up before grocery shops hours today, which pushed up the price of the commodity instantly. Sources said, the price of the table salt shot up by Rs 20 today to sell at Rs 35 to 40 per kg at different places. The state government has requested the consumers to deter from such panic buying of the product.

There is plenty of stock of salt available in the state and it is just a rumour, said Madhusudan Padhi, secretary, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare department. Meanwhile, the potato crisis began to ease in the state capital and Cuttack today after the arrival of 17 truckloads of potatoes from West Bengal.

Potato is available at all places, only the rates remain high due to the scarcity, he added. The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed) has been asked to procure potatoes from Kanpur, Ranchi and other states where it is available.

The prices of tuber has sky rocketed in last few days to around Rs 50 per kg with the West Bengal government imposing restrictions on export of potato to contain the prices in the local market. Sources said, 400 trucks of potatoes are required daily in the state.