In the absence of a proper waste management system at the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) in Vashi, waste vegetables are being sold in the retail market by some retailers. The video of a woman collecting onions and potatoes from garbage and later selling them in retail has surfaced.
The video has not only raised concern about the health of common citizens but also about the security arrangement inside the wholesale market in Vashi. Normally, traders at the wholesale market throw rotten produce as their shelf life is low and they cannot be eaten.
Video shows woman selling rotten veggies from garbage
At present, onions and potatoes soaked in rainwater are arriving at the market. Due to the poor quality of the products, traders throw them in the garbage. However, the video that surfaced on social media platforms, showed a woman collecting these rotten onions and potatoes from the garbage and filling them in two sacks. Later, the onion and potato were loaded in a rickshaw and taken out to a roadside market. The woman was seen openly selling those rotten onions and potatoes in the evening near the APMC.
APMC Vashi generates a large quantity of vegetable waste every day which is thrown in the market premises. During the day, the garbage vehicles from NMMC collect these wastes. By the time they are collected by civic garbage collectors, many retailers collect vegetables from there and sell them outside the wholesale market in retail or in a weekly market across the city. The quality of such vegetables is substandard and can even have a bad impact on the health.
Residents irked over the video
After the video surfaced, many of the residents raised concerns about whether they are eating healthy vegetables or those collected from garbage. Rajeev Mishra, a social activist said that the APMC administration must prevent such people from entering inside the market premises. An administrative official informed FPJ that they have come across the video and increased security inside the market.
Many wholesale traders from the market say that this has been happening for a long time. “There must be a mechanism to manage the waste generated in the market,” said a trader from the vegetable market.
