Karwar: Onion which had brought tears in the eyes of people due to its rising cost in the last few weeks saw a sudden fall in the prices in the weekly Sunday market in Karwar. Also, sale of poor quality onion was witnessed.

After a constant rise in the prices, per kilogram of onion was being sold at Rs 120 last week. However, this week, it came down to Rs 60 per kg. "Although the prices have come down, the quality of the onions is not satisfactory. According to traders, the onions which have entered the market now are from Karnataka which was affected by floods and so, the quality is not so good," said Vasudev Gowda, a consumer.

On Sunday, traders were seen selling two to three varieties of onion on street side in the market area. Though smaller size onions were sold for Rs 30 per kg, its quality was very poor. 30% of these onions were nearly rotten. Inspite of this, there was a demand as the price was less.

"The price of good quality onion got from Pune is still Rs 100 to Rs 110 per kg. Only poor quality ones is being sold at Rs 60 to Rs 30 per kg," said Hyder Ali, a Haveri-based trader.

"Due to floods this year, onion crop got damaged and there is a shortage of onion supply to the market. To meet the demand, onions are being got from Pune and this has led to price rise," said traders.