The ongoing strike in Andhra Pradesh has severely impacted the supply of essential commodities in Odisha. A large quantity of food items, particularly fish, egg and vegetable, is sourced from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and others daily.
While vegetable rates in the state have gone up by an average 20 per cent, traders fear prices of fish and egg will follow suit if the strike continues for a longer time. The traders said transportation of different commodities from southern states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra had reduced sharply in the last two days. "The stocks available with the wholesale traders may not last long if supplies are not restored to the normal level from across the southern neighbour," said Ch Rabindra Nath, one of the officials of Ganjam Chamber of Commerce (GCC).
The traders in south Odisha depend on Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh for almost all the ration items like the atta, oil, sugar and spies. They also procure onion from Nasik and tomato from Bangalore, through Andhra Pradesh by road. The transportation of these items had been hit by the bandh called by different organisations to protest the bifurcation of the state.
