Prices soar as rains stop in AP

Hyderabad: The situation in Hyderabad is slowly returning to normal after the rains stopped.

But, not before doing a lot of damage, the four days of rains claimed 64 lives and more than 10, 000 people were evacuated.

Once the rains stopped, people were out with their regular activities, but the traffic jams were worse, due to the water logging.

The condition improved in the afternoon. There was less attendance in offices and all schools in the city remained closed.

But the rains have done more damage than just traffic jams.

Incessant rains in Hyderabad for the last four days have led to an increase in the prices of essential commodities, especially vegetables.

Not many vegetables were available in the market and those available were sold at exorbitant prices.

Tomatoes are being sold at Rs 8 per kilogram while potatoes are costing Rs 12 a kilogram, the prices are almost double than what they were two days ago.

"Vegetables are not available in the market and we're forced to eat only pulses," says a resident Shyamala.

"The government should do something to supply vegetables. It is causing lot of inconvenience," says another resident, MB Varma.

And the government admits prices of essential commodities are on the rise.

"The prices of vegetables will remain affected for a couple of days due to transportation problem. They will be stabilized," says the Andhra Pradesh agriculture minister, N Raghuveera Reddy.

The rains also claimed three lives in the Sultan Bazar locality of Hyderabad. The three, including a woman, were killed when their house collapsed on Saturday morning.

The Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad says the house was categorised a weak building but people living there did not vacate the house despite warnings.

Following this incident, the Municipal Corporation has decided to ensure that all the weak buildings are vacated soon.