Fearing arrests, street vendors stop selling vegetables in Rawalpindi
Vendors say cannot sell at official prices which are lower than wholesale rates
PHOTO: REUTERS
RAWALPINDI:
In a bid to avoid any action by the district administration on profiteering, most of the vendors in Rawalpindi have stopped selling vegetables, complaining that they could not put themselves in a loss.
Vendors said the brokers and bulk sellers at wholesale market of Sabzi Mandi were selling vegetables at higher than the officially designated rates, but the city officials arrest retailers only. “How can we buy expensive and sell cheap,” said a vegetable pushcart owner Adnan Husain.
Vegetable shop owners too were short of inventory owing to exorbitant prices in the wholesale market. “I did not go to mandi today,” a shop owner said explaining it was getting impossible to sell vegetables at such high rates.
The current situation has irked the citizens as they kept roaming here and there to find vegetables to cook food but had to return hopelessly.
According to the details, the official price of per kilogramme of tomatoes was fixed at Rs198 however the vendors claimed that it was being sold at Rs230 per kilo in Subzi Mandi. Similarly, the district administration has set price of local garlic at Rs255 per kilo however, the vendors said, wholesalers were demanding Rs300 per kilo. Same was the case with ginger which was available in the vegetable market for Rs300 whereas its official rate was Rs285 per kilo. Green chilies are selling at Rs180 per kilo in the wholesale market, whereas the official rate is Rs160 per kilo, similarly, bell peppers are tagged at Rs200 per kilo in wholesale against official rate of Rs188 per kilo, vendors said.
In this regard, a vegetable seller Muhammad Aslam said that it was impossible to sell vegetables on official rates after purchasing them at way higher prices. He lamented that doing business in the current times had almost become impossible.
“We cannot sell vegetables in a loss. We are arrested and face cases if we don’t sell it in official rates,” he said and added that it was better not to sell than face any danger.
A customer Muhammad Waheed said that he had purchased minced meat but was tired of looking for onions, ginger, garlic tomatoes, green chillies, coriander and mint to make the meal.
Meanwhile, residents of Islamabad to have complained to the district magistrate about how some items were being sold in the IMC weekly bazaars at higher than the prices fixed by the local administration.
When contacted, an Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration spokesperson said that they had accelerated action against hoarders and profiteers by imposing Section 144 to curb the artificial price-hikes on edible items, especially fruits and vegetables.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 21st, 2019.
In a bid to avoid any action by the district administration on profiteering, most of the vendors in Rawalpindi have stopped selling vegetables, complaining that they could not put themselves in a loss.
Vendors said the brokers and bulk sellers at wholesale market of Sabzi Mandi were selling vegetables at higher than the officially designated rates, but the city officials arrest retailers only. “How can we buy expensive and sell cheap,” said a vegetable pushcart owner Adnan Husain.
Vegetable shop owners too were short of inventory owing to exorbitant prices in the wholesale market. “I did not go to mandi today,” a shop owner said explaining it was getting impossible to sell vegetables at such high rates.
The current situation has irked the citizens as they kept roaming here and there to find vegetables to cook food but had to return hopelessly.
According to the details, the official price of per kilogramme of tomatoes was fixed at Rs198 however the vendors claimed that it was being sold at Rs230 per kilo in Subzi Mandi. Similarly, the district administration has set price of local garlic at Rs255 per kilo however, the vendors said, wholesalers were demanding Rs300 per kilo. Same was the case with ginger which was available in the vegetable market for Rs300 whereas its official rate was Rs285 per kilo. Green chilies are selling at Rs180 per kilo in the wholesale market, whereas the official rate is Rs160 per kilo, similarly, bell peppers are tagged at Rs200 per kilo in wholesale against official rate of Rs188 per kilo, vendors said.
In this regard, a vegetable seller Muhammad Aslam said that it was impossible to sell vegetables on official rates after purchasing them at way higher prices. He lamented that doing business in the current times had almost become impossible.
“We cannot sell vegetables in a loss. We are arrested and face cases if we don’t sell it in official rates,” he said and added that it was better not to sell than face any danger.
A customer Muhammad Waheed said that he had purchased minced meat but was tired of looking for onions, ginger, garlic tomatoes, green chillies, coriander and mint to make the meal.
Meanwhile, residents of Islamabad to have complained to the district magistrate about how some items were being sold in the IMC weekly bazaars at higher than the prices fixed by the local administration.
When contacted, an Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration spokesperson said that they had accelerated action against hoarders and profiteers by imposing Section 144 to curb the artificial price-hikes on edible items, especially fruits and vegetables.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 21st, 2019.