District govt fails to check profiteers on 1st Ramazan

Rawalpindi: The city district government, Rawalpindi literally failed to control high prices of fruits, vegetables, meat and chicken as profiteers openly looted public with both hands in open market on 1st Ramazan, as only around 10 per cent of consumers could reach ‘Ramazan Sasta bazaars which are only nine in number and could not cater to the needs of the entire population of the city.

The profiteers were selling 1-kilogram peach at Rs250, banana at Rs240, mango at Rs200, apple at Rs250, guava at Rs150 and watermelon at Rs30. The dates were being sold at prices in range of Rs240, 280 and 360.

It is worth mentioning here that some days back, 1-kilogram peach was easily available at Rs80-100, banana at Rs100, mango at Rs120, apple at Rs100-120, guava at Rs80 and 1-kilogram watermelon was easily available at Rs20 in open market. Similarly, butchers were selling 1-kilogram mutton at Rs1,000 and beef at Rs550-600. The chicken sellers are selling 1-kilogram chicken meat at Rs332.

On the other hand, the local management was busy in controlling inflation in ‘Ramazan Sasta Bazaars’ established at Committee Chowk, Nawaz Sharif Park, Khayaban-e-Sir Syed, Haidri Chowk, Dhoke Hassu, Chungi Number 22, Adiala Road, Gulzar-e-Quaid and Chur Chowk on Peshawar Road.

Assistant Commissioner (AC), Rawalpindi Tasneem Ali Khan told ‘The News’ that they are strictly monitoring ‘Ramazan Sasta Bazaars’ and open market shops. “Our price magistrates are continuously visiting open market shops to arrest profiteers,” he warned.

Special directives have also been issued to display the rate lists of all commodities with phone numbers of those in charge of the bazaars and emergency services, he said. The consumers belonging to different walks of life have appealed to the Punjab government to increase the numbers of ‘Ramazan Sasta Bazaars’ or to control inflation in open market during the holy month.