CHENNAI: There seems to be no respite for the people from the rising prices of tomatoes in Tamil Nadu as the wholesale price of the vegetable touched Rs 200 per kilogram in the state capital and many towns on Sunday.

The shortage of the product in the Koyambedu wholesale market in Chennai has led to the spiraling price rise of tomatoes.

PV Ahmad, a wholesale vegetable dealer in Koyambedu market while speaking to IANS said, “There is a shortage in the arrival of tomatoes from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh due to the heavy losses in crop due to intermittent rain in these states. Heavy rain has led to a total loss of crops and hence the shortage in the arrival of tomatoes. This has led to the hike in prices of tomatoes in the market.”

Traders also said that the price is likely to rise to Rs 250 / kg in a week's time

P Sukumaran, secretary of the Koyambedu Wholesale Merchants Association, while speaking to IANS said, "This is the first time since the opening of this market that the price of tomatoes has touched Rs 200 per kilogram. This is unprecedented.

"We were expecting the rates to get steady by July 20 but sudden rain has led to the loss of crops and more than 50 per cent of tomatoes cultivated in Andhra and Karnataka have been lost due to the rain.”

While the wholesale market was selling tomatoes at Rs 200 per kilogram, in certain retail shops, tomatoes were sold at Rs 185 per kilogram.

Kuppusaamy, a vegetable seller in Pammal, Chennai told IANS, “We are selling tomatoes at less than the rates that we buy as we want to avoid wastage.”

The sale volume has also decreased drastically and people are not buying tomatoes and instead focusing on other vegetables.