Floods push up prices in Assam

The Met office has not ruled out rains in the next couple of days, with Tuesday8217;s bulletin saying light to moderate rain and thundershower was likely to occur at a few places in the region till Wednesday.

Damage to a bridge on National Highway 31, between Bhabanipur and Pathsala in Barpeta district, has severely affected movement of trucks into the Northeast, while highways remained cut off in at least 20 spots across the state. Floods have also caused damage to as many as 1,112 state PWD roads in Assam in the third wave of floods that began last week, while over 600 timber bridges, mostly serving rural areas, have been damaged or washed away.

Meanwhile, prices of essential commodities including vegetables have sky-rocketed in the past few days, with onions topping the list with a retail price between Rs 28 and Rs 34 on Tuesday. Prices of rice, masur and moong dal, mustard oil and vanaspati also soared, with the market blaming the rains.

Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said the price rise was not abnormal and was at par with the all-India increase in prices of different commodities. 8220;I don8217;t think there has been a very abnormal rise. There has been an all-India rise, and prices in Assam have gone up at the same rate,8221; the CM said.