BENGALURU: It is a challenge to get food from the farm to your table. But the government claims the supply chain is fine. According to government data, though there is sufficient stock of food grains and that various government agencies have held meetings at multiple levels to ensure enough stocks, they have been unable to iron out the supply link. Traders, suppliers, mill owners and store owners said with improper transportation, the prices of items are rising.

Information obtained from districts like Haveri, Kalaburagi, Dharwad, Shivamogga and Bengaluru shows that there is no scarcity of food, but still the price is rising because of artificial scarcity created by some traders, forcing people into panic buying.According to Balakrishna Shetty, V-P, Grain Merchants Association, Bengaluru, “The stocks are in the yards, but traders are finding it difficult to get it to their stores. Millers are unable to process the rice and pulses as there is shortage of labourers and transporters.”

A police official at the Bengaluru- Mysuru checkpost said,  “We are not permitting these trucks as there have been instances where people are using them to travel.”Rajendra Singh Kataria, Agriculture Secretary, said there was no shortage of stocks.

“Arrivals are happening every day and distribution is also taking place. Work is on to start supplies to processing units for mangoes and tomatoes in Chittoor (Andhra Pradesh), Krishnagiri (Tamil Nadu), Kolar (Karnataka). Work is also on to ensure rice and dal mills are functioning. In fact there is surplus sugar, rice and dal in the State,” he said.Transporters and traders from Mangaluru said while oil tankers which have landed in the ports are being quarantined, obtaining transportation permission was taking a while due to security checks and shortage of passes.