VELLORE: The prices of items that play a significant part during Pongal celebrations are on the rise and prices of sugarcane, jaggery and vegetables have increased manifold.Sources said that while sugarcane was sold at Rs 250 per 20-piece bundle last year, the price has shot up threefold to Rs 600 per bundle this year. Vendors attributed the price hike to cyclone Thane which damaged the crop in Cuddalore, Villupuram and Tiruvannamalai where sugarcane is grown exclusively for pongal and for sugar extraction. Damage due to the cyclone is said to have forced vendors to buy sugarcane from far off districts like Theni, that in turn has increased transportation costs.Sugarcane and jaggery, which have a mythological association with Pongal, are indispensable in every household during the harvest festival. Sweet pongal is made and offered to the Sun God along with sugarcane and vegetables like beans. Vendors weigh and buy sugarcane and sell them at piece rate that fetches them a comfortable 100 to 200 per cent profit. While the city is used to a good supply of cane for pongal from across the State, the cyclone is said to have drastically reduced the inflow and triggered a price hike.The price of sugarcane is expected to further rise on Saturday when locals make large-scale purchases. While the price of jaggery is hovering at around Rs 2500 per quintal, a rise of around Rs 500 is expected. The price of vegetables have increased by 10 per cent uniformly over the past week due to an increase in demand.
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