The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Fish supplies come down; meat price to shoot up

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 30, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Fish supplies come down; meat price to shoot up

By Divya Sreedharan

Fish is set to become a rare delight on the dining table for non-vegetarians following the tsunami disaster. — Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

BANGALORE, DEC. 29. Next time you order seafood at your favourite restaurant, you may find the dishes costlier. Or, they may not be served at all.

The reason is tsunami, which devastated Chennai and other places in the southern coastline of the country. The risk of disease spreading through food and water has now led to warnings on eating fish, red meat and poultry sourced from these places.

Hotels and restaurants already feel the pinch. Mandaar Sukhtankar, chef of The Park hotel, says supplies of fish are coming down. Mr. Sukhtankar believes that this will increase the prices of red meat and poultry. "If there is less fish around, people will eat more red meat and poultry," he says.

At a fish stall in Russel Market, business is down. The popular varieties, according to Siraj, a fishmonger, continue to be mackerel and seer fish.

Already, chicken and red meat prices are high this week. A spokesperson at a poultry shop here says a kilogram of red meat now costs Rs. 60 and chicken Rs. 42. "Last week, red-meat cost Rs. 56 a kilogram and chicken Rs. 36. Prices are up also because this is the New Year and Christmas season," he says.

Vegetable prices

Those in the business expect the prices of vegetables and fruits to go up too over the coming days. Officials at the Horticultural Producers' Cooperative Marketing and Processing Society (HOPCOMS) say that they get vegetables from districts neighbouring Bangalore such as Kolar and Tumkur, while fruits come from Maharashtra. Gopala Gowda, manager (procurement) of the society, says 1,000 tonnes of vegetables and fruits pass through Bangalore daily. Of that, HOPCOMS sells 60 to 85 tonnes. "There has been no effect on prices so far, but if red meat and poultry become costlier, there can be a long-term effect on vegetables too," he adds.

A related and more serious issue concerns the risk to people's health from eating fish caught off the Chennai or Karwar coasts. An official at the Institute of Animal Health and Veterinary Biologicals says pathogens from decomposing bodies floating in water can easily enter the fish in a particular region. But according to officials at the University of Agricultural Sciences, most of the fish sold in Bangalore come from the west coast, off Mangalore. "It is safe to eat it," they say.

The Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Sciences is yet to look into the possibility of fish, meat and poultry getting contaminated if sourced from places hit by the tsunami. Officials say that directives, if any, must originate from the Union Ministry of Dairy and Animal Husbandry.

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