Prices of fruits and flowers go up ahead of Ganesh Chathurthi in Bangalore

The prices of fruits and flowers have doubled ahead of Ganesha Chaturthi forcing the residents of Bangalore to shell out more for their items that are an important part of rituals.

One kg of apple is being sold between Rs 120 to Rs 150 depending on the quality and its variety. The prices of pomegranate, custard apple and sweet lime have also increased considerably from Rs 150 to Rs 180 per kg, Rs 160 to Rs 170 and Rs 50 to Rs 60 respectively. Sapota and banana prices too have risen. While Sapota costs Rs 40, banana is available at Rs 30 to Rs 35 per kg.

Speaking to iamin, Shanmugam K, a fruit vendor at New Thippasandra Market, said that the prices of fruits have seen a 20 to 40% rise as against the prices of last week. “We also paid extra to the wholesaler at KR Market to procure fruits. There was a lot of demand for fruits,’’ said Shanmugam.

With the cost of flowers shooting through the roof, people, especially home-makers, are finding it difficult to buy flowers for the celebrations. Jasmine costs Rs 500 to Rs 600 per kg while crossandra (kanakambara) has crossed Rs 1,000-mark per kg. The other flowers such as Sugandharaja, rose, lily and chrysanthemum have also become dearer.

“Now we have to sell one metre of chrysanthemum garland for Rs 40 as against Rs 20 last week,’’ says Palaniamma, a flower vendor.

Security tightened
To ensure Ganesha festival celebrations take place smoothly, more than 10,000 policemen, including 25 platoons of Karnataka State Reserve Police, City Armed Reserve and Home Guards would be deployed in sensitive areas such as Tannery Road, KG Halli, Chamarajpet, Shivajinagar, Munireddy Palya, Jayanagar and Tilak Nagar.

To read the full story, please visit- Bangalore: Prices of fruits and flowers will burn a hole in your pocket this Ganesh Chaturthi​