Traders said that supplies of yam and sweet potato, which are the special food of the Maghe Sakranti festival which occurs on Thursday, had been affected badly.

A 33-party coalition led by the UCPN (Maoist) organised a Newa, Tamsaling and Madhes Banda while the CPN-Maoist organised a shutdown in the central region on Tuesday. Also on Tuesday, Tharuhat Tarai parties organised a regional banda.

Similarly, various parties have been organising shutdowns in the Western, Eastern and other regions of the country for the past few days.

Tuesday’s shutdown resulted in a 70 percent plunge in supplies at the Kalimati wholesale market, the largest in the valley.

“We received only 8 truckloads of yam today while 20 truckloads are required for the Maghe Sakranti celebration,” said Bharat Khatiwada, president of the Kalimati Fruits and Vegetables Market. He added that customers could not get fresh fish, sweet potato, fresh vegetables and fruits due to the halt in transportation services.

“Farmers and traders had to bear huge losses due to the strike as these products are highly perishable,” he said. Khatiwada blamed the government and political parties of not helping to ensure smooth supplies of perishable goods.

With shipments plunging, wholesale prices increased on Tuesday. Yam cost Rs 38 per kg compared to Rs 30 per kg on Monday. Similarly, the price of sweet potato has risen to Rs 45 per kg from Rs 42. “Prices could go up in the retail market as there will be increased demand for the festival amid a drop in supplies,” said Khatiwada.

According to him, yam comes from Sarlahi, Nawalparasi, Palpa, Dhading and Chitwan while sweet potato comes from India. “We were expecting three truckloads of sweet potato this morning, but they never came,” said Dipendra Shrestha, a wholesaler at the Kalimati market. “We could not sell other products in stock to retailers in various parts of the valley either.”

Meanwhile, prices of most leafy vegetables and tomatoes have gone up by about 20 percent in the wholesale market. Broad leaf mustard cost Rs 28 per kg, up from Rs 23 earlier. Spinach leaf and cress leaf cost Rs 48 per kg each, up from Rs 43. Tomato was selling for Rs 23-29 per kg, against Rs 20-23 before.