LAHORE - The Lahorites are bracing for the holy month of fasting today (Sunday) amid price-hike and shortage of essential commodities with the government efforts failing to provide any relief to the masses even through much hyped Sasta Ramadan Bazaars. High prices at the retail level are the real issue confronting the people with potential to spoil their holy month. Even before the start of Ramazan, the prices of meat, vegetables and fruits, not to speak about the sugar crisis, have gone up substantially. Most of the items used in Ramazan are already out of the reach of ordinary people, even for the middle class the prices are unbearable. Sasta Ramazan Bazaars are so far proving to be a futile exercise on the part of administration as scarcity of commodities and quality issue is damaging the spirit of such an activity, reveals a survey carried out by this scribe on Saturday. At Ramazan Bazaars, the prices of different items are Rs 5 to Rs 10 less than the open market but the quality of commodities and their continuous supply is a big question mark. The people are already making complaints about sale of inferior quality commodities and scarcity of different items at these bazaars. The city district government has established 34 Ramazan Bazaars in different parts of the City in collaboration with concerned town municipal administration. Officials said majority of the bazaars have started functioning from Friday while the remaining ones would be operative within next couple of days. For most visitors both sugar and atta are most evasive items so far. TMOs and TOs (Regulations) are managing the affairs of Sasta Ramazan Bazaars in their respective jurisdictions while 54 special magistrates are given the task to ensure sale of commodities at government rates. The CDG Food Squad is collecting samples of essential commodities from each and every Ramazan Bazaar on daily basis to check quality of food items. According to the CDG and town officials, besides Ram-azan Bazaars, the administration has set up 141 cluster shops and hundreds of fair price shops in the City to ensure provision of essential commodities to the consumers at cheaper rates during the holy month of fasting. The officials said the government was ensuring direct supply from the farm and factories to these bazaars to keep the prices low. They, however, admitted that supply issue was hampering the performance of Ramazan Bazaars. They believe that the supply would improve in next couple of days that would help removing complaints about scarcity of commodities at the bazaars. Meanwhile, tomato, potato and tori is being sold at Rs 50 per kilogram in the open market, cauliflower at Rs 70 per kg, onion at Rs 30 per kg, guava at Rs 40 per kg, grapes at Rs 160 per kg, dates at Rs 120-180 per kg, apple at Rs 120 per kg, banana at Rs 50-60 per dozen, apricot at Rs 140-160 per kg, Peach at Rs 100 per kg and chicken at Rs 190 to Rs 200 per kg.