There will be no fresh arrival of vegetables at the Mumbai Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) in Vashi until vegetables in inventory get finished, traders decided after a chaotic situation in the market on the second consecutive days due to excessive supply. The traders will hold a meeting next week to decide whether to continue the market operation or close till April 14.
On the second consecutive day, the wholesale market received a huge supply of vegetables. In fact, on Saturday, more than 1000 trucks loaded with vegetables arrived which is a record in the last decade, claimed traders at APMC. Normally, on a good day, the APMC receives 600 to 650 trucks of vegetables. A trader said that if there are five persons against each truck, it will 50,000 people in the market and this crowd is difficult to handle.
Excessive supply resulted in complete chaos in the market and at one point, it became difficult for traders as well as administration to control the rush. A long queue of trucks formed along the road outside the market in Vashi. Around 250 traders held a meeting on Saturday afternoon and decided to stop fresh arrival.
The APMC administration had closed the market on March 25 following the outbreak of COVID-19. However, the administration agreed to reopen the market from Saturday in phase wise after the state government assured adequate safety measures inside the market premises.
The market was opened partially on Friday in the presence of police personnel. However, on Friday, around 500 trucks loaded with vegetable arrived and safety measures go for a toss. People were seen jumping the gate and they yanked off their mask soon after they entered the market premises.
Narendra Patil, former MLC and Mathadi (head loader) leader said that a final decision of market operation will be taken next week. “There is a huge stock of vegetables due to excessive supply. We have decided that there will be no further arrival until the stock lasts,” said Patil. He added that the crowd in APMC is different from other places and it is not easy to handle them.
The APMC administration had expected that around 200 to 250 trucks of vegetables would arrive and the market will open in phase wise smoothly. “In the present scenario, only 200 trucks loaded with vegetables can be entertained to ensure the safety of all stakeholders,” said Patil. He added that anything above will only aggravate the situation and an outbreak of pandemic cannot be ruled out.
“We will hold a meeting next week after stock finishes to decided whether to continue the market or close it,” said Shankar Pingle, director of the vegetable market in APMC Vashi.
However, the onion-potato market will continue to operate. Ashok Walunj, director of the onion-potato market said that they will continue to operate. “We received 180 trucks loaded with onion and 20 trucks with potato and we managed with limited restriction of retailers in the market premises,” said Walunj.
Around 50 people were found down with fever and their body temperature was above than permissible during a check at the entrance of the onion-potato market. They were not allowed to enter the market and administration was informed.
