JOIN USAfter Egypt, Turkey has supplied Mangaluru 50 tonnes of onions, which were unloaded at the old port on Tuesday.
The Turkey onions are huge, with merely two to three onions weighing a kg. The price of onions was Rs 12,000 a quintal on Tuesday morning. While it increased to Rs 13,000 a quintal by noon, wholesale merchants felt that the rate would be Rs 150 a kg by Wednesday.
In spite of the supply of onions from Turkey, however, the price in the domestic market may not reduce, felt merchants at the Central Market in Mangaluru. Domestic onions are priced at Rs 120 a kg at the Central Market.
With the rise in the price of onion, consumers have started rationing the use of onion. As a result, the number of lorries transporting onions from the Old Port to different parts of the district has reduced. Several labourers are jobless and are struggling to eke out a living.
Middlemen are fixing the price of onion. No measures have been taken to curtail the middlemen activities. In the past, the price of onions brought from Pune and Hubballi was fixed based on the transport cost. Now, however, the price is rising continuously, alleged B K Imtiyaz, general secretary, Bunder Shramikara Sangha.
Members of the Sangha will protest at 9.30 am on December 5, demanding to check price of onion, he added.