Patna: City markets wore a colourful hue with fruits and vegetables, essential for Chhath like ‘kaddu’ (bottle gourd), banana, sugar cane, coconut, gagar nimbu and other seasonal fruits, flooding almost every area of the capital on the eve of the festival on Monday.
Albeit, the prices are high, with bottle gourd, the most sought after vegetable for ‘Nahay-Khay’ (Day 1 of Chhath), being sold at Rs 60 to Rs 80 per piece, even as thousands thronged the city markets for buying the freshest produce.
“Whether bottle gourds are expensive or cheap, those observing the Chhath fast have to buy it to prepare ‘prasad’ for the ritual, but the high prices cause difficulties for the poor families,” said Alka Ranjan, a resident of Patel Nagar.
It’s no wonder that the prices of vegetables and fruits become sky-high during Chhath every year, but this year, the greengrocers are blaming it on crop damage due to recent heavy rainfall, saying the cost is high for the last two months.
Till last week, however, bottle gourds were sold at Rs 30-40 a piece. Similarly, the new crop of potato is being sold at Rs 80-90 a kilo, and cauliflower is available at Rs 50 per piece.
Arpita Rai, a resident of Ashiana Nagar, who was buying bottle gourds in the local market, said the four-day Chhath festival, dedicated to sun God, will begin with the ritual of ‘Nahay-Khay’ (literally translated to having food after holy bath) on Tuesday. “On this day, those observing Chhath fast take a bath and prepare offerings of gram dal, ‘usna chawal’ (raw rice) and bottle gourd in ‘sendha namak’ (rock salt) without garlic and onion. Afterwards, the devotees consume these offerings. Bottle gourd holds special significance on the day of ‘Nahay-Khay’, so the vegetable sellers hike their price,” said Rai.
A vegetable vendor at Jagdeo Path, Ganesh Ram, however, said that the price of vegetables is high for the last two months due to heavy rainfall this year, leading to damage of crops. “The price of the vegetables is high in the wholesale market, so we are forced to sell them accordingly in the local market,” said the vendor.
A similar scenario is there in the fruit markets. Among important fruits, bananas are being sold at Rs 60 to Rs 80 per dozen depending on the variety, while gagar nimbu is available at Rs 30 to Rs 50 per piece in the retail market. Similarly, oranges are being sold for around Rs 160 per kg, while apple at around Rs 220 in the retail market.