KOHAT: Consumers have criticised the administration for its failure to check the prices of edibles especially fruit and vegetable during Ramazan despite issuing the rates at the price review committee meeting.

Mango (Sindhri), which was available last year at Rs70 per kilogramme was now being sold at Rs150 per kg and banana at Rs250 per dozen. Peach, which is a common fruit consumed mostly by sugar patients, is being sold at Rs140 per kg.

Also, mango (Langra) was being sold at Rs120 and Desi mango at exorbitant Rs100 per kg. Pomegranate is available at Rs400 per kg. Generally, the vegetable sellers have raised rates by Rs50 per kg and the fruit shopkeepers by Rs70.

A partial boycott was observed on the first day of strike by the consumer society of buying fruit here on Saturday.

Meanwhile, 150 beef sellers in the city embarked on an indefinite strike in protest against the government rate fixed by the district price review committee without taking them into confidence.

The administration had set the rate of beef at Rs280 per kg, while the butchers were selling it for Rs350 per kg for the last many months.

Talking to this scribe on Saturday, Tajir Action Committee president Haji Abid said that each meat seller had fixed a profit margin of Rs100 per kg which was injustice with the consumers. He added that the administration had fixed the rate of mutton at Rs600 per kg, but it was being sold at Rs750 per kg.

Meanwhile, the traffic police fined over 7,000 vehicles and collected a cumulative fine of Rs2.5 million from drivers violating rules in a special drive during last one month. A police statement said that the police fined drivers of about 7,255 vehicles, including buses, wagons, coasters, vans and pickups.

Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2017