Lucknow low on meat, veggies also become hard to get

LUCKNOW: As if the crackdown on slaughterhouses wasn’t enough, households have to deal with escalating vegetable prices as well. Shweta , a homemaker, said, “Two days ago I bought lady’s finger for Rs 45 a kg. Today, it is available for Rs 60 though one vendor offered me the same at Rs 50 rupee per kg if I bought more than two kgs.”
Likewise, the price of pumpkin shot up from Rs 12 to 20 per kg in the market.Cabbage, which sold for Rs 15 apiece, is selling at Rs 35 per piece now. The price of cowpea, or lobiya, has risen from Rs 40 to 60 per kg.
Similarly, capsicum was priced at Rs 35 per kg last week but is now available for Rs 70 per kg. The cost of cauliflower has gone up from Rs 15 to 25-30 per piece.
There is also a rise in the prices of onion which was earlier Rs 15 but has now gone up to Rs 35 a kg. “In my house, no dish is ever cooked without onions. With this sudden rise in the vegetable prices and month-end near, it has become difficult to stick to the family budget,” said Nusrat Kazmi.
A wedding planner from Chowk told TOI that because buffalo meat wasn’t readily available anymore, the demand for vegetables and paneer had shot up. Paneer is priced at Rs 300 a kg. A vegetable vendor in Nishatganj pointed out that the prices are likely to shoot up another 10 to 15% because of summer.