High demand pushes egg prices up in Vizag

Visakhapatnam: With the shutters of meat shops closing down for the second consecutive Sunday, demand for eggs has seen a rise in Visakhapatnam.

On Sunday, long queues are witnessed at counters selling eggs in Rythu Bazaars.

Weekend is the time where many families enjoy a non-vegetarian meal. But with meat outlets drawing its curtains, many ended up bringing home a tray of eggs.

Despite the partial curfew in place and most offices working till noon, overcrowding at meat outlets continues to recur.

Keeping this in view, Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) officials imposed a ban on meat shops selling chicken, mutton, prawn, fish, etc on Sundays. The step is being taken to bring down coronavirus cases further in the city.

The ban has come into effect for the past two Sundays.

With nutrition being the buzz word in times of the pandemic, there is a growing demand for eggs both among vegetarians as well as non-vegetarians. However, for non-vegetarians, eggs are the only alternative for meat available in the markets.

As an egg is loaded with proteins and vitamins, its consumption has soared in recent days. At present, an egg in the open market costs over Rs.8. In Rythu Bazaars, it was priced at Rs.5.85 on Sunday.

Even after waiting for hours in the queue, the stocks at the egg counters got exhausted by 10 a.m. at Rythu Bazaars. People were seen waiting at the counters since 6 a.m.

Normally, about 80 percent of meat outlets remain closed on Saturdays. Following a ban on meat sale on Sunday, meat shops in the city were opened on Saturday (May 29).

However, a few people stocked up their refrigerators with sufficient quantity of meat on Saturday itself.