Sharp rise in Kolkata vegetable prices as supplies dwindle post Amphan cyclone rampage

Vegetable prices have shot up in Kolkata and its adjoining areas as supplies took a hit in West Bengal, which was battered by cyclone 'Amphan' earlier this week.

Prices of most vegetables have risen by 20-30 per cent over the last two days, traders said.

Road communication in several parts of the metropolis has been severely impacted as thousands of trees and electric poles lay scattered on the streets.

West Bengal Vendors Association president Kamal Dey said on an average, 300 vehicles loaded with vegetables arrive in the city everyday, but the number has halved since Thursday.

"The main supply hubs for the city are Basirhat, Bangaon, South 24 Parganas and all these places suffered huge damages due to the cyclone. At many places, fields are filled with knee-deep water," he said.

Unless the water recedes by Sunday, majority of the produce will perish and cause massive shortage of supply, Dey said.

Lakhs of people were rendered homeless as cyclone 'Amphan' cut a path of destruction through half-a-dozen districts of the state on Wednesday, flattening houses, uprooting thousands of trees and swamping low-lying areas.