Hyderabad: Juicy fruits flood markets as temperature soars

Hyderabad: Come summer, the joy of having fruits like watermelon, mango and consuming healthy beverages like sugarcane juice, lassi, butter milk is doubled. It is observed that instead of consuming water all the time, people prefer having fruits and juices to quench their thirst.

To keep their hydration levels up to mark people are seen having water-based frits along with their snacks. Since the beginning of February, markets in the city are booming with fruits like watermelon, muskmelon, grapes, and oranges. The good news for people seems to be the early arrival of fruits and juices in the market and their low prices.

Apart from pushcarts, and other fruit sellers, several roadside kiosks have taken up watermelon business as a side business which has been yielding good profits.

According to Batasingaram market vendors, daily around 50 to 70 trucks of watermelons arrive at the Batasingaram fruit market. The sale of this particular fruit in the wholesale market is usually high and is expected to increase further more as the mercury levels soar further. Watermelons come from Mahabubnagar, Zaheerabad, Jedcharla, Jogulamba Gadwal and a few districts of neighbouring Maharashtra and Karnataka.

At the wholesale market, the watermelons are sold for Rs 6 and Rs 8. Each fruit weighs approximately around 2 kg and in the retail market, it sold for Rs 15 and Rs 18 per kg. "Compared to previous years, the prices are comparatively low or same this year," said Naresh Reddy, a trader at Batasingaram market.

The market is not only full with watermelons but also grapes, oranges and muskmelons," he added.

Watermelons are a wonderful snack for the hot summer days as it contains 90 percent of water which helps for people staying hydrated. "Asit is a tasty and sweet fruit besides naturally cool, why should one go for chemical flavored cold drinks or lassi," said a health-conscious Shaik Afzal.

Mohammed Abdul Muqeet, a local vendor of watermelon, has already sold several quintals of watermelons in the last 10 days. "Since the beginning of summer, people are consuming more melons and in the coming days, if the supply of watermelons remains the same, there is a chance of a decrease in the prices," he added.

He said that he keeps a margin of Rs 10 - 12 per kg to cover transportation costs, damages and profits. "Fruits get damaged during transportation and we have to cover up for such losses. Moreover, we also have to pay the labor chargers at market and helpers in our fruit shops, which has to be taken into account while setting the retail prices," added Muqeet.

Traditional lassi, nimbu ka sharbat, ganne ka sharbat provides relief from the soaring temperatures

Apart from melons, people also enjoy having the traditional lassi, sugarcane juice and lemon soda to quench their thirst. Several lassi shops, sugarcane juice centres and lemon soda pushcarts are mushrooming in almost every corner across of the city and people are seen thronging these centres to help themselves beat the heat.

Matwale Doodh Ghar in Shalibanda is one of the oldest lassi shops in the city which was established five-decades ago. Though the summer is yet to start, the sale of lassi has picked up and people have started drinking lassi. Daily we are serving lassi to several hundreds of people. "It is one of our special drink and a lot of people come from faraway places come to drink our lassi," said Mohammed Matwale, one of the owners of Matwale Doodh Ghar.

In several areas, the lassi is sold starting from Rs 40 to Rs 100. Meanwhile, the sugarcane juice near historic Charminar is still sold for Rs 5 per glass and in other areas it is sold between Rs 20 and Rs 30.