Chattogram traders trash 15 tonnes of onions as prices skyrocket

As the price of onions continue to soar, traders have thrown away almost 15 tonnes of the kitchen staple in Chattogram.

Merchants dumped the rotten onions at Khatunganj's Hamidullah market -- regarded as Chattogram's biggest spice market, Chan Mia market and Maddham Chaktai on Thursday, said Ahmed Safa, cleaning inspector of Bakshirhat ward No. 35.

According to the traders, the onions had decomposed on the way to the country from Myanmar.

Later, four rubbish trucks of the Chattogram City Corporation brought the discarded onions to a waste depot in the port city's Arefin Nagar, said Ahmed.

"There were about 15-16 tonnes of rotten onions."

On the disposal of the onions, Md Idris, general secretary of Hamidullah Market's traders association, said, "These  onions came from Myanmar. This lot started rotting as it was at the bottom of the pile in the boat that brought the onions into the country."

"There are about two or three more trucks of onions which went unsold. These were thrown away [on Thursday night]. We haven't discarded anymore onions since."

The government decided to import onions from Myanmar in an effort to ease prices in the country after India banned the export of the cooking ingredient in September. But traders have raised questions about the quality of Myanmar's onions ever since the decision was announced.

The price of onion hovered around Tk 30-40 in September but it has since surged past Tk 250 over the next two months. The government has since decided to fly in onions from Egypt, Turkey and China but the move has so far done little to alleviate the situation.