TIRUCHY: Ahead of the Pongal festival, prices of flowers and fruits soared high on Wednesday across Tiruchy, and the vendors attributed the supply shortage as one of the reasons for the price hike.

As anticipated, the flower prices were nominal till Monday; however, they started to increase from Tuesday and on Wednesday, during the Pongal eve, the prices soared high, with Malligai sold at Rs 2,300 per kg, while mullai was sold at Rs 2,000 and jathi malli at Rs 2,000 per kg, recording around 50 per cent jump compared to the previous week in Gandhi Market, in Tiruchy.

Besides local cultivation, the flowers are being brought from the adjacent districts like Dindigul, Pudukkottai, Perambalur, Theni and Coimbatore. The traders said that they had prepared well for the Pongal festival, but the lower yield against the demand surge had resulted in a price hike for flowers.

According to the traders at Gandhi Market, the other flower varieties like Sevvanthi, Pitchi, Kanagambaram and Paneer Rose were also sold at double the price.

Meanwhile, the prices of fruits also increased in the past two days ahead of the festival. Sevvalai Banana was sold at Rs 1,000 per bunch, while Nendran was at Rs 850, Poovan at Rs 700 and Rasthali at Rs 800 per bunch, respectively.

A bunch of 10 stalks of sugarcane costs between Rs 200 and 300, while the single stalk is sold at Rs 50. A bunch of turmeric was sold between Rs 40 and 60. Similarly, the small pot was sold at Rs 150, and the bigger size was sold at Rs 250.