Prices of essential commodities soar

Chennai, Dec 5, 2015, dhns:

People in Tamil Nadu had to pay very heavy price for milk, water and other essential commodities including vegetables that touched an all-time high cost on Friday.

Even many of the middle-class people, who were affected by flood, could not get their day-to-day requirements at such exorbitant prices, since banks and ATM centres were not functioning in the flood-affected area since last Tuesday.

As the state-owned Aavin could not reach flood-affected areas to supply milk, private vendors were selling the much-needed milk at the price of Rs 200 per litre. One litre milk is usually sold for Rs 20.

“I purchased one litre milk for Rs 200. That too I had to stand in queue for more than one hour”, K Satish, who returned back to his Thambaram residence said.

As the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board had suspended power as a precautionary measure, most of the residents of the city and its neighbouring Kancheepuram and Thiruvallur, who had stocked milk and vegetables, were unable to preserve them for long.

In addition, severe scarcity of drinking water also forced even the poor people, who living in rain-hit areas, to purchase mineral water bottles and packets for Rs 40 per litre.

However, Satish’s neighbour Kailash, a software engineer, could not purchase neither milk nor drinking water since he lost his belongings including his purse in the flood.

“We drink only boiled rain”, Kailash said and hoped that things will change soon.
As most the supermarkets and vegetable shops across the Chennai were closed due to flood, the vegetable prices also touched the roof with onions being sold at a price of Rs 150 per kilo.

“I purchased one kilo tomatos for Rs 100. Even curry-leaves were sold at a high price", Jayalakshmi, a house wife, said.

The less affluent, who could not buy the commodities, had to walk several kilometer to get food from relief shelters set up by the state government.