The potato crisis in West Bengals retail markets eased Thursday as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee kept her promise of releasing the tuber from the cold storages,a day after she took charge of the agriculture marketing ministry from Arup Roy who is now a minister without portfolio. The dispatch,however,could meet only half the demand. An estimated 5,000 tonnes of potato has been dispatched from cold storages, West Bengal Cold Storage Association president Ramapada Paul told PTI,adding the demand for the entire state is 10,000-12000 tonnes a day. Paul,however,said there is no special direction so far and the government has only asked to clear the cold storages by November 30,a normal practise. Associations spokesperson Patit Paban Dey blamed low dispatch quantity on lack of labourers. Potato traders were on strike for three days. Also there were holidays due to Diwali and Bhaiphonta. Now that both are over,supply will be normal in two to three days, Dey said. Meanwhile,the Enforcement Branch of the police tried to ensure that potatoes were sold at government fixed rate of Rs 13 a kilo,for the Jyoti variety. We ensured two things - the rate did not go beyond Rs 13 a kg and people stood in a queue to buy potatoes, said a senior official at Entally police station. Consumers were happy at the government initiative but sounded sceptic on its sustainability. I stood in a queue for about 30 minutes to buy 2 kg potatoes sold under police supervision. The seller said he was incurring loss and will not pick fresh stock tomorrow. We should be prepared for a bigger crisis, said Pritam Hazra,a south Kolkata resident,at Gariahat Market this morning. Incidentally,prices of another potato variety,Chandramukhi,has shot up. I bought Chandramukhi at Rs 40 a kilo, claimed P S Das,a central government employee. Potatoes were,however,not available at Manicktala Market,Charu Market,Koley Market,Park Circus Market and Gariahat Market. Leader of Opposition Surya Kanta Mishra blamed Mamata for the crisis. Her intervention itself creates problems. Whenever she declares something,the reverse happens. She said that potatoes would be available in the market from this morning,and the vegetable has vanished, Mishra said. Stating that the cold storages could have released the potatoes earlier,he said the tubers prices will come down naturally and then Mamata will take the credit for controlling the prices. By November 30,the cold storages have to be emptied,as a practice,because by then potatoes start arriving here from other states. Prices would fall and the CM would claim the credit, he said. Left Front chairman Biman Bose too said that it was the inefficiency of the state government,which has led to the abnormal rise in potato prices. However,former Union finance minister and senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha hailed CMs decision to ban export of potatoes to tide over the crisis. But he blamed both the central and the state governments for failing in supplying potatoes to the markets
