16,000 tonnes of imported pulses, including tur, disappear into the city every day, say custom officials
16,000 tonnes of imported pulses, including tur, disappear into the city every day, say custom officials
The soaring prices of food grains have put Mumbaikars on a crash diet and it looks like they'll have to stick to it.
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Interestingly, grains such as tur dal and grams, which are imported by traders, have not been reaching the market.
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All for a cause: Shiv Sena's women activists conduct a rasta roko against the soaring prices of essential commodities at Sena Bhavan, Dadar, yesterday. |
Records with the customs department indicate that around 30 to 40 containers with estimated 16,000 tonnes of pulses, including tur and grams, are cleared at the docks each day.
Customs officials have launched a massive search for the missing consignments and they suspect that a lobby of private traders could be involved.
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"They may want to hoard the products," said a senior customs official.
He added, "What is shocking is that the lobby comprising 20 small-time business houses is authorised to import 2 lakh tonnes of pulses each and no duty has been levied on the consignments."
While, the price of tur dal has escalated to Rs 100 per kg from Rs 21 in April, that of gram has shot to Rs 30 from Rs 7 for a kg. But with the consignments being untraceable, the prices are unlikely to stabilise.
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"The prices of dal would have slipped if the imported goods had been sold in the market. Dal and other produce are hoarded in some warehouses in the state so that they could be sold later at a much higher price.
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We are trying to track down these godowns," said the official.
According to Rasiklal Munshi, a grain dealer from Chandivli, the prices of dal will go down by 30 per cent if the hoarders are traced.
The Minister for Civil Supplies Ramesh Bang was not available for comment.
Govt's PlanThe state government has ordered 70,000 tonnes of tur dal from Myanmar.
A senior official from Mantralaya confirmed that the arrangements had been madeu00a0 by the State Trading Corporation, adding that the import is expected to arrest the rising prices of pulses.
