Agra, Sep 1 - Rising prices of essential items seem to be taking their toll on the common man here. First it were the pulses and now it is the king of vegetables - potatoes - that is burning a hole in the pocket of the consumers.

The price of potatoes has more than doubled to Rs.25 per kg this year compared to Rs.10 last year. This has hit the common man badly in Agra.

'With price of pulses shooting up, potato alone was the hope to balance the family budget. But this year potatoes have been unkind as well. Better qualities of Haldwani and Pahari potatoes are selling for Rs.25 a kilo while the local varieties are available at Rs.15 as against last year's Rs.8 per kg,' said Sudhir Gupta, spokesperson of the local citizens' welfare association.

He said the rise in prices has affected the population of both urban and rural areas.

'Potatoes are an essential component of a vegetarian diet and our children eat nothing but potatoes in various forms. The rise in prices is turning our budget upside down,' said Padmini, a housewife in posh Kamla Nagar colony here.

She feels the state government should have directed the cold storages to release stocks in the interest of the common man.

However, Cold Storage Owners Association president Sudershan Singhal said: 'Farmers don't appear interested in bringing their stocks to the markets.