Austerity marks festival celebration

Various reasons like delay in rains and an increase in the cost of transportation contributed to a steep hike in the cost of flowers, fruits and vegetables. For instance, mallige (Jasmine) flowers were sold at Rs 300 a kilo, while sevanthige (Chrysanthemum) was priced at Rs 200 a kilo, a guava fruit was going at Rs 12 and a pair of plantain stems costed nothing less than Rs 40.

Giving reasons behind the escalated prices, K T Gangadhar, president of Karnataka Horticulture Federation said, “Due to  incessant rains, lot of flowers and vegetable crops have perished. Regions like Tumkur, Mysore, Hassan and Chitradurga, the traditional flower-producing regions received a lot of rain and the crops perished during the seeding stage itself.” As for the plantains, which mainly come from Coimbatore and Hosur, came under pest attacks.

According to Krishnappa from HOPCOMS, they have permitted private vendors to sell flowers in their outlets and are 25 per cent less than the market rates. Even the rates of fruits and vegetables are 15 per cent less than what are sold in the market.