Leh/Mumbai, Apr 2: Even as the government is trying to tackle the unrelenting price rise scenario, the ever-increasing inflation is all set to cripple the life of the common man.

The people's anger is visible even in Leh where residents had hoped that the prices of common food items might ease with the opening of the strategic 434-kilometer Srinagar-Leh National Highway scheduled for middle of April.

Ladakh region remains cut off by road from rest of the country during winter due to accumulation of huge amounts of snow even up to 60 feet on southern face of Zojila mountain pass.

The region heavily depends upon imports for most of food items.

For the residents, the opening of the highway is eagerly awaited bringing in supplies. But this time, the people don't expect much relief due to the sharp increase in prices of essentials across the country.

"We thought that the situation would improve when the road link would be thrown open. We thought we would receive a regular supply of vegetables at reasonable prices. But then it seems the highway is of no consequence, the prices are anyway soaring and would continue to skyrocket even after the road link has been established," said Dawa Tsering, a resident.

"The vegetables are available at Rs. 80-90 per kilogram. Now, this is beyond our capacity, we cannot buy such costly vegetables," added Dawa.

The situation is no good even in the comparatively developed areas of the country where people have better income.

Shopkeepers in Mumbai observe that there has been a drop in the quantity of food items consumed by the people, which in turn are affecting their businesses.

"Where will the people go, they need food to eat and they will buy, but they have started reducing the quantity that they used to consume. This way, we will end up posting huge losses. More than four-five shopkeepers in this locality have already shut shop," said Jayram Patel, a shopkeeper. (ANI)