The traders and transporters of Navi Mumbai have decided to resume operations from Wednesday. As the Maharashtra Government & the APMC market administration have finally managed to achieve a breakthrough on Monday in reopening the onion, potato & vegetable wholesale markets.
Anoop Kumar, Secretary of Cooperation Department, told BusinessLine that, after long meetings with traders it was decided to resume operations at Navi Mumbai APMC. The traders were asked to prepare a self-regulation plan so that there is much lesser crowding at the markets. Before, some traders had placed excessive orders for the goods, which was beyond the capacity of the APMC management to handle it safely. However, today, the traders have been asked to implement a staggered system for unloading of the goods at the market.
As per APMC management sources, additional facilities for sanitisation & crowd control are also being worked out. Talks are also being held with traders of grains and spices market. It is hoped that they will also resume their operations from Wednesday. With the rising fear of the pandemic among the trading community, the APMC management on April 9 had decided to close the fruits, vegetable, onion & potato markets from April 11 until further orders. The grain, masala and oil markets were also shut down on the same day after some deliberations.
Prashant Jagatap, Secretary of wholesale vegetable traders cooperative at the Navi Mumbai APMC, told BusinessLine, that the market will resume operations from Wednesday with the same guidelines of social distancing, which were earlier issued. But, for the proper functioning of the market, the vegetable retailers, who are the main customers of the APMC traders, should not be stopped by the police.
Jagatap informed that as an alternative to the APMC market yard, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai has allowed for the wholesale trade of vegetables on 3 public grounds in Mumbai city. If the Navi Mumbai APMC market has to function properly then the ad-hoc arrangement of selling the vegetables in open grounds must be discontinued immediately.
He also alleged that some people with no prior experience of trading in vegetables are setting up their makeshift shops on the grounds, which is leading to a spurt in prices of certain vegetables.
APMC Director Ajay Vira, representing the interests of the grain traders, said that issues like issuing identity cards to the traders & transports, additional sanitation measures facilities & informing police administration about allowing the staff and other market participants to come to Navi Mumbai are being worked out.
