Kolkata: While West Bengal has largely been spared from the worst of the season’s extreme temperatures so far, Kolkata’s retail kitchens are feeling the heat of heatwaves raging across the rest of India.A sharp drop in agricultural arrivals from southern and western India has triggered a severe supply crunch, sending the prices of kitchen staples skyrocketing over the last 48 hours. The most dramatic spikes are visible in two essential summer commodities: lemons and brinjals (eggplants), both of which are heavily imported from other states. Within the last three days, the retail price of a single lemon has doubled from Rs 5 to Rs 10, translating to a staggering Rs 100 to Rs 200 per kg. Similarly, premium brinjals, which hovered around Rs 50 per kg earlier in the week, have breached the Rs 80 mark, with some premium local retail stalls in high-end neighbourhoods demanding up to Rs 130 per kg.As Kolkatans try to beat the heat, the demand for fresh lemonade and sherbets has reached an annual high. However, the primary orchards supplying Kolkata—located in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra—are struggling against climate-induced crop failures. “Lemon trees are highly sensitive to sudden thermal shocks. Unseasonal rain followed by prolonged, intense heatwaves during the crucial bulb and flowering stages have severely diminished yield sizes. When you couple lower production with elevated interstate transportation costs driven by fuel prices, a price correction at the retail level becomes inevitable,” said Kamal De, president, Bengal Vegetable Vendors’ Association.Wholesale traders at Sealdah’s Koley Market confirm that high transit temperatures are also causing unprecedented wastage. “The produce is arriving pre-wilted,” says veteran wholesaler Tarun Poddar. “By the time trucks from the south reach Kolkata, a sizeable percentage of perishable vegetables like brinjal are already rotting due to a lack of refrigerated transport.”The sudden financial pressure has left middle-class households struggling to balance their weekly grocery budgets. “Just a few days ago, I could buy lemons and brinjals without a second thought,” said Kakoli Bose, Salt Lake resident. “Now, buying four lemons costs me Rs 40. I had to drastically cut down our family’s vegetable consumption and substitute them with cheaper lentils.”Local sellers are facing an equally tough situation. “Customers are furious and accuse us of price gouging, but our hands are tied,” laments Subhash Shaw, a retail vendor in Maniktala market. “If I buy a basket of brinjals at premium wholesale rates and a quarter of it spoils under the afternoon sun before it sells, I have no choice but to price the remaining stock at Rs 80 to Rs 100 a kg just to break even.”Experts predict that retail vegetable prices across Kolkata will remain volatile for the next few weeks. Relief is only expected to arrive once the pre-monsoon showers mature across central and southern farming belts.
