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Covid-19: Govt presses APMC traders not to close vegetable markets from Wednesday
The Maharashtra government and traders under the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committees (APMC)which run the wholesale vegetables and fruits markets at various
The Maharashtra government and traders under the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committees (APMC)which run the wholesale vegetables and fruits markets at various locations in the state have been unable to resolve their differences on keeping the markets open as an essential service for the public.
The APMCs on Monday decided to observe a closure from March 25 to March 31 as a precautionary step against COVID-19 in view of the crowds that gather at the markets. The state government, however, has appealed to APMC traders to keep the markets and their establishments running and has promised police protection from the crowds.
Pune APMC traders union president Vilas Bhujbal said the traders held joint meeting on Monday and decided to keep the wholesale market open only till Tuesday, March 24. “Traders will not work from Wednesday, March 25 till March 31,” he said.
Pune divisional commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar said, “We are engaged in talks with the traders. As their main worry is about large crowds at the wholesale market, we are thinking of providing protection and ensuring that safe distances are kept.”
Sunil Pawar, managing director, Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board, the apex body of APMCs, said, “We have appealed to the traders to take all the necessary precautions and keep their essential services running. Even traders and retailers should avoid crowding in the markets. We will keep the APMCs open across the state and try to sell the commodities that have arrived. We have also instructed that only the essential bazars be kept open. The bazars for haldi, cattle and the flowers market can be kept closed,” he said.
Pune APMC administrator BJ Deshmukh also appealed to traders to come forward and keep their shops open as vegetables fall under essential commodities.
“The administration is working out a solution to ensure supply of vegetables to the major cities. A meeting on this is going on and an action plan is being worked out,” he said.
Jaydutta Holkar, director, Lasalgaon APMC, a major trading centre for onions, said, “We have already decided to close the trade from Tuesday itself. Not only at Lasalgaon, but traders at many APMCs in Maharashtra are in a mood to close the trade.”
On Monday, an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 people visited the Pune Market Yard and did panic buying. Bhujbal said vegetable traders and vendors were now worried that they would contract the infection from the crowds visiting the markets. He said a large of the workers and support staff had stopped coming for work out of fear. “Without these helpers it is not possible for us to run the business,” he said.
Bhujbal said although vegetables constituted essential commodities, the reality was that on the one hand, the helpers were not reporting to duty and on the other, large crowds were coming to the markets at a time when the viral infection has emerged as a real threat in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad.
Market Yard opens after three days in Pune; short supply leads to spike in prices
Vegetable and fruit vendors restarted their businesses at the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) on Monday, three days after the wholesale market was shut due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Pune APMC administrator BJ Deshmukh said only 857 trucks of vegetables and fruits arrived at the market as compared to 2,000 trucks which used to arrive in the past weeks. The reduced supply resulted in a spike in prices of vegetables by 20 per cent.
APMC traders’ association president Vilas Bhujbal said, “As the market was closed for three days, we were expecting more supply, but only 40 per cent of the produce reached the market. Retailers rushed to the market to purchase the produce.”
Deshmukh said that APMC followed all the government guidelines on Monday and appealed to the traders to keep a distance and use a mask or scarf. APMC even provided sanitisers at the market and appealed to the traders, potters and purchasers to use it.
