Lucknow, Jun 28 (IANS): With tomatoes selling at Rs 120 per kg in Lucknow and prices of other seasonal vegetables also sky rocketing, housewives are seeing red over their rising kitchen budgets.

The rise in process of tomatoes is being attributed to snapping of the transportation chain due to inclement weather and flooding in some states.

Abrar, a vegetable vendor in Narhi area, said: “The supply of tomatoes in the wholesale market has been adversely affected and with supply going down, it is natural that prices will shoot up.”

A state government spokesman, however, has assured that the spurt in prices is a "temporary seasonal phenomenon" and the rates will cool down soon.

Over the last week, tomato prices saw a whopping 200 per cent rise in states like Karnataka, which had a rippling effect in states like UP.

The maximum price of Rs 122 per kg has been reported from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh.

Wholesale vendors say that tomatoes are only being supplied from Maharashtra, while Rajasthan has stopped its supply following crop damages due to rains.

Moreover, farmers who had faced losses for the last two years, have chosen not to grow tomatoes and switched to other vegetables instead. High perishability of tomatoes has also put paid to its availability in the market.