The Kalimati fruit and vegetable market in Kathmandu was shut down earlier this week, as vegetable vendors had stopped selling their wares following a dispute between a government monitoring team and the vegetable traders.

According to vegetable seller Bishnu Kandel, the vegetable traders had manhandled the officials from the Department of Supplies Management, who were inspecting the market amid widespread concerns over the inflation in the vegetable prices.

"Although the market has reopened, it is not bustling with customers and vendors as in the past," Kandel said, adding that, previously, around 500 tons of vegetables and fruits were brought to the market every day, but only some 400 tons were brought in today.

The government has been stepping up market monitoring. The monitoring team had reached Dhading, Chitwa, Makawanpur among others districts and had taken stock of the prices the local farmers were paid for their produce and the market price.

The Kathmandu Post reports how, during the inspection, it was found that the vegetable traders were charging consumers four times the price they themselves paid the farmers.