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SUPPLY AMID BLOCKADE

Dhaka lives off vegetables from nearby districts

Suman Saha
Vegetable supplies to Karwan Bazar kitchen market in the city have still been afloat thanks to the adjacent districts as the ongoing blockade has almost disconnected the remote northern and southern parts of the country with the capital.
Vegetable farmers of Munshiganj, Tangail, Savar and Manikganj, the adjacent districts of Dhaka, are now providing around 30 percent of the total requirement of the wholesale hub that supplies vegetables and other items to kitchen markets across the city.
"The districts around Dhaka saw a bumper yield of vegetables this year. So, in spite of risks, the farmers of these areas are bringing their produce to Dhaka for better price," said Lokman Hossain, general secretary of Karwan Bazar kitchen market wholesalers' association.
As the demand is low due to the blockade, this supply was enough for the Karwan Bazar market, he said.
The southern and northern districts such as Chuadanga, Kushtia, Dinajpur, Nilphamari, Natore, Bogra and Mymensingh meet the rest of the demand, around 70 percent, on normal days, Hossain said.
Nayan Sheikh, a pickup driver from Munshiganj, said, so far he did not face any problem in transporting goods due to the blockade.
"We make our journey after 7pm during strike and blockade as Munshiganj is near to the capital," said Nayan, who brought five tonnes of potato to Karwan Bazar on Tuesday night.
Shutdown and blockade have created panic among transport workers as pickets often set vehicles on fire with gunpowder and petrol bombs, said Md Alam, a truck helper who hails from Serajdikhan of Munshiganj.
"We have to work during strike and blockade to make ends meet," said Alam, who earnsTk 300 each trip.
"The harvesting time for vegetables is running out. Any delay would cause immense losses," said Md Jasim, a trader who buys vegetables directly from the farmers of Manikganj and sells in bulk at Karwan Bazar.
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The production of radish was aplenty in Manikganj this year, he said, adding that the crops will be damaged in fields if those are not harvested immediately.
Price of radish fell by a half recently, said Jasim who sold each kilogram of the vegetable item at Tk 20 on Tuesday, down from TkTk 35-Tk 40 a month ago.
Traders face serious problems in carrying goods to faraway places during blockade due to exorbitant transport fares. Abdul Halim, a trader from Hemayetpur in Savar, said: "We have to offer more than double the fare we pay on normal days to rent vehicles."
On a normal day, traders payTk 8,000-Tk 10,000 for carrying goods from Savar to Ghittagong. "But now, I have to pay around Tk 20,000."
Halim, who sells kohlrabi and coriander leaves, said he has so far bought vegetables worth Tk 10 lakh from different farmers of Hemayetpur. But, a thin presence of customers at Karwan Bazar has made him upset. "My sales have declined significantly," Halim said.
He was selling each kilogram of kohlrabi atTk20 on Tuesday, down from Tk 28-Tk 30 a week ago.
Abdus Sattar, another trader, said he had to pay higher fares to bring eggplants from Tangail to Dhaka.
Traders usually pay around Tk 6,000 for carrying goods in pickups from Tangail to Dhaka, but now they are paying around Tk 8,000, he said.
"We are not getting fair prices though we are bringing the vegetables amid risks," Sattar said, adding that the price of eggplants declined by around 40 percent in recent times.
He was selling each kilogram of eggplant at Tk 22-Tk 24 on Tuesday, down fromTk 30-Tk 35 a week ago.
On a normal day, the Karwan Bazar market that houses about 700 stores sells vegetables worth Tk 20 crore, according to the wholesalers' association.