Mangoes being sold in Siliguri. (Kundan Yolmo) Siliguri, June 1: Mangoes from Malda are ready to arrive in Siliguri. With jamaishashthi (a ceremony for sons-in-law) round the corner, people were disappointed when the produce from the nearby district eluded the town even in the last week of May. Traders of Siliguri Regulated Market, however, said the fruit will be in the shops in the next few days. "This time there has been a record production of mangoes in Malda although its arrival here is two weeks late. We are expecting it in the first week of this month,' said Gopal Pal Choudhury, the chairman of Siliguri Fruits and Vegetable Commission Agents' Association. He said a rainless period followed by Nor'westers had affected the first crop. "The blossoms fell off and so we did not get the early produce in the first week of May this year.' Not that Siliguri went without mangoes. The king of fruits, as it is known in Bengal, had reached the local market in the middle of last month. These were mainly from Andhra Pradesh and are popularly known as madraji mangoes. Some mangoes, popularly known as chowsa, had come from Bihar besides the ones from Krishnagar and Ranaghat. "But varieties like bombai, langra, himsagar, laxmanbhog and fajli are grown in Malda and most mango lovers are waiting for them,' said Pal Choudhury. There are more than 70 traders in the regulated market who deal with fruits and vegetables. Among them 40 deal with fruits only. "Till date hardly 30 trucks loaded with mangoes have come to the market everyday as against the 70-80 vehicles expected. But we hope the number will double in the next couple of days,' said Partha Chakraborty, a trader in the market. For some time, the price of mangoes has hovered between Rs 14 and Rs 22 per kilo. The hike in price has been mainly because of non-availability of mangoes in the market. "Mangoes, which should have come in the first week of May, came 15 days later. Once the produce from Malda and Uttar Pradesh start coming, the price will automatically decrease,' said Himangshu Shom, the secretary of the association.