CHANDIGARH, Sept. 22 — After nearly three weeks of inflated costs, Chandigarh residents are seeing some relief at vegetable stalls as prices begin to ease with supplies returning to normal.
Reportedly, crop output was disrupted and transport routes blocked due to the recent floods in Punjab and Haryana amid sharp spikes across markets. With road links restored and arrivals picking up, Apni Mandis in Chandigarh recorded a marginal dip in prices this week.
Tomatoes, the most affected item, had climbed to ₹60 a kilogram in wholesale markets on Sept. 3. Rates have now fallen to ₹40. In retail, consumers had faced even steeper prices, with standard tomatoes touching ₹80 and premium varieties nearing ₹100.
Other vegetables are showing similar corrections. Capsicum, which sold for ₹120 per kg earlier this month, is now available at ₹100. Cauliflower dropped from ₹120 to ₹70, bottle gourd from ₹70 to ₹50, lady’s finger from ₹80 to ₹60, and brinjal from ₹60 to ₹50. Lemon eased from ₹100 to ₹80. Garlic, however, continues to retail around ₹100 per kg.
Komal Sharma, in-charge of Apni Mandi with the Punjab Mandi Board, said the disruptions were significant. “Floods severely affected local produce in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. For weeks, vegetables were being brought in from Uttar Pradesh, Bangalore and Delhi, which raised costs due to transportation. Now that local routes are opening and supplies are stabilising, prices have started to decline and will likely ease further in coming days. Though vegetables are still being supplied from neighbouring states, easier supply has lowered the costs,” she said.
Tomato supplies faced an additional setback even before the floods, officials said, with strong winds and extreme heat waves earlier in the season damaging fields and reducing quality. Labour shortages and crop losses in flood-hit areas further aggravated the problem.
With supply chains slowly stabilising, traders expect prices to continue their downward trend over the coming weeks.
