Delhi: Vegetables may get costlier as sealing of borders chokes supply

Delhi’s wholesale markets are dealing with a gradual disruption in the supply of fruits and vegetables, which is set to send retail prices soaring, as neighbouring

Delhi’s wholesale markets are dealing with a gradual disruption in the supply of fruits and vegetables, which is set to send retail prices soaring, as neighbouring states have sealed borders with the Capital.

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Even as the nation heads towards possible conditional and phased relaxation of lockdown curbs after May 3, Haryana’s Faridabad sealed its borders on Wednesday while Gurugram will close up from Friday morning. Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Budh Nagar and Ghaziabad had sealed their borders last week.

According to the data shared by the agriculture produce market committee (APMC), the three major markets in Delhi — Azadpur, Ghazipur and Okhla — have recorded a 25-40% drop in fresh stocks of fruits and vegetables, including bottle gourd, ridged gourd, brinjal, okra, coriander leaves, cucumber, musk melon and water melon, at a point that is considered the start of the season.

As many as 15 traders in Delhi’s Azadpur market test Covid-19 positive on Thursday and 43 contacts have been quarantined. Test results of over 100 persons associated with the market are awaited, while over 500 have been screened. Two medical teams have been deployed to round-the-clock monitoring.

The market has around 2,800 registered traders and around 12,000 individuals are engaged in various roles, such as accountants, porters, daily wage labourers engaged in loading and unloading of goods, etc. The Azadpur market is Delhi’s lifeline for fruit and vegetable supply.

Many traders have shut shop, demanding that the market be spread across 100-odd acres and shifted in parts to other locations. The current area should be sealed, as supply to the market has dipped.

Adil Khan, the chairperson of the Azadpur APMC, said that on Wednesday, the market received 5,000 tonnes of fruits and vegetables, a fall from the 7,500 tonnes, which is the average during the lockdown. Supply improved slightly on Thursday, as the movement of essential vehicles was allowed across borders, with the market having received 6,000 tonnes of fruits and vegetables.

“At the wholesale level, we are taking all possible measures to ensure that prices of fruits and vegetables do not shoot up. Other than that, the market is being sanitised more frequently now, every few hours,” Khan said.

Anil Malhotra, elected member of the committee that regulates the Azadpur market said that such fluctuation in arrivals within such a short span hardly depicts any improvement in supply. “The crisis is visible as more than 200 traders have refused to open their shops. People are scared,” he said.

In regular times, at least 3,300 trucks supply at the Azadpur market every day, while the other two major agriculture produce markets in the city, at Ghazipur and Okhla, receive around 400 and 200 trucks a day, respectively, APMC office-bearers said.

The Ghazipur market, according to data shared by APMC officials, has witnessed around a 25% dip in supply over the last three days, compared to the lockdown average.

Haji Yamin, a trader at Okhla agriculture market, which majorly caters to south and southeast Delhi areas, said that most of the vegetables at the wholesale market are supplied from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, but with the sealing of the Haryana border at Badarpur, supply has taken a hit.

He said that usually, around 200 trucks and small vehicles ferrying fruits and vegetables visit the market, but this has dipped by 35-40% after the sealing. This will eventually hit the retail supply and prices are likely to go up soon, he said. “Seasonal vegetables and fruits, such as bottle gourd, ridged gourd, brinjal, okra, coriander leaves, cucumber, and fruits, such as musk melon and water melon come to the Okhla wholesale market from neighbouring towns in Haryana, via the Faridabad border. On an average, the market witnessed the arrival of around 1,500-1,800 tonnes of vegetable and fruits per day earlier this week,” Yamin said.

Another trader at the Okhla market, Qutumsher Ali, said that at present, green vegetables are being supplied only from neighbouring towns of Noida, Jewar, Hathras and Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, besides local farmers cultivating on the Yamuna floodplains and bordering villages. “Even the supply of potato, water melon and musk melon from Agra and Mathura via Faridabad border is also affected. If the situation continues, the wholesale prices of vegetables may witness a hike,” Ali said.

The ripple effects of a broken supply chain are already visible at retail vegetable and fruit markets. Traders at Mehrauli vegetable market said that the supply of seasonal vegetables was already hit due to lockdown and the sealing of borders has made things worse.

Prakash Singh, a vegetable trader at Mehrauli market, said that vegetable supply to south Delhi markets is majorly from the Okhla market. “Vegetables and fruits coming from UP and Haryana via Faridabad border are not reaching the market. So, traders of small-scale markets are not able to get proper supply. If this continues, vegetables and fruits are set to get dearer,” Singh said.