LAHORE - Taking stock of the alarming shortage of tomatoes in the local market, the Punjab government imported tomatoes from Indian city of Bangalore in Karnataka state.
Yesterday the prices of essential commodities shot to record level as there was panic at last minute due to Eidul Fitr.
Also there was no check on the price control by the City District Government Lahore (CDGL). Price of tomato swelled up to 100 percent making people hapless at the hands of profiteers.
Market Committee Secretary Shehzad Cheema told The Nation that the local crop of tomato whose growing period lasted 90 to 120 days had finished in the local market when Ramazan started. “But somehow it sustained for three weeks of the holy month. After that, the Lahore market depended on the supply from Peshawar, Mansehra and Quetta,” he said.
“The situation got worse when tomato supply from Quetta was diverted to Karachi instead of coming to Lahore. Another factor leading to crisis situation was that the crop of tomato was destroyed in KPK due to heavy rains. Therefore, we imported Indian tomatoes from Bangalore city to sustain the local demand.
“The cost of Indian tomato to Pakistan was around Rs 90 and it came on trucks through Wagah border. The new crop of tomatoes from Wana, Waziristan, has also started arriving in local market,” he added.
Cheema claimed that due to imported tomatoes the price had decreased by 30 percent.
A price control magistrate seeking anonymity said the panic shopping by consumers also made the situation worse. “Irrespective to that our teams raided shops and imposed fines for selling prices at inflated rates,” he said.
The city district government had set Rs105 per kg for the sale of tomatoes but they were sold for Rs200 per kg. Price of Chicken was set at Rs220 per kg but was sold for Rs230 and Rs240.
On the other hand, most of the Ramazan bazaars wrapped up early instead of waiting till evening and for announcement from the Reut-e-Hilal Committee. “I came to buy flour and oil on subsidised rates but was not lucky enough to buy anything as Ramzaan Bazaar at Wahdat Colony had closed in the morning,” Ali Hamza, resident of Wahdat Colony complained.
