APMC’s vegetable, fruit and onion-potato markets to be shut from Saturday

The wholesale vegetable, fruits and onion-potato APMC markets will shut down from Saturday. The APMC administration has taken the decision following demand by traders.

The wholesale vegetable, fruits and onion-potato APMC markets will shut down from Saturday. The APMC administration has taken the decision following demand by traders. The administration, however, said supplies will directly go to Mumbai, thus ensuring there’s no shortage. However, the grains and spices markets will continue to function.

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APMC secretary, Anil Chavan said, “The markets will remain shut till April 14, the lockdown period. We will review the decision again then based on the circumstances and the decision taken by the state government.”

Wholesale traders at the market that supplies essential agriculture produce to Mumbai and its nearby areas held meetings on Thursday after a spices trader tested positive for Covid-19 positive a day earlier. The trader, a resident of Sion, had not come to the market since March 21.

Despite measures taken by the administration to avoid gatherings, the market continued to be crowded.

The traders at the wholesale onion-potato market in Vashi were the first to declare that they will shut the market from Monday. They were followed by the traders of vegetable and fruits market who approached the administration to shut the market.

Citing that the traders have been working even after the imposition of lockdown to ensure there is a regular supply of commodities to Mumbai markets, APMC director and wholesale trader Ashok Walunj said, “Cases of coronavirus are increasing by the day. And most of the people coming to our market including workers, drivers and retailers are mostly from slum areas. After we learnt of a spices trader testing positive yesterday, we are scared.”

He added, “There is enough stock in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai to last a month. There is also provision for direct supplies to Mumbai, which is already happening.”

Walunj added that the traders will work to supply all the stock they have to Mumbai, and then they will stop working. He assured that In future if the lockdown is extended or there is shortage of commodities, we will again hold a meeting and review our position.

Following the representations, the APMC administration decided to shut the three markets. Chavan, said, “We received requests by traders associations that they wanted the markets to be shut. Hence, we have decided to shut the market from Saturday. Friday will be the last working day.”

He explained, “It is difficult to contain the spread of the virus. With reports of rising cases, traders and mathadis are worried.”