BackCovid-19: Navi Mumbai mayor urges state govt to shut APMC market
The rise in the number of covid-19 cases has severely hit supplies and there is fear among traders and buyers.Food grains are the only items that are supplied to retail markets via APMCs, while for vegetables and fruits, the state allowed direct supply from farms to retailers
PremiumMumbai: Navi Mumbai mayor Jaywant Sutar has urged the state government to shut agricultural produce market committee (APMC) market in Vashi after total number of cases in the region touched 395 on Thursday. This comes a month after the Vashi market resumed operations.
"When we had detected a few positive cases, we had requested the state government to seal the market but in vain. Now that cases are increasing, we have put in a request again," Jaywant Sutar told Mint on a call.
Sutar said the rise in the number of covid-19 cases has severely hit supplies and there is fear among traders and buyers. Food grains are the only items that are supplied to retail markets via APMCs, while for vegetables and fruits, the state allowed direct supply from farms to retailers.
Nilesh Veera, director, APMC said there is no state government order yet to shut the APMC market. "The government has been supportive and has told us clearly that we have to keep the APMC markets open with whatever staff strength, and a shutdown decision should be avoided to prevent a panic across the city," said Veera.
Though there are concerns about safety due to the epidemic, the market is functioning with even smaller strength. On the ground there are about 15-20% people working at APMCs, which means only around 5,000 people are working inside the market, he added.
There was panic because the family members of some of the infected traders also tested positive. "But we have taken all the necessary steps to prevent and control spreading of covid-19 from APMC in Navi Mumbai. We are taking orders from traders over the phone and we have stopped selling goods on credit as was the case earlier," he said.
However, due to the pandemic some people were reluctant to come to the market and preferred working from home. So, the business is slightly subdued but the market is operational.
On any given delivery day, there used to be at least 300 trucks in the food-grains market, but today only 25 trucks have arrived. Traders who are taking the delivery will have to make necessary arrangements because many godowns are sealed after being found in the area of containment.
Demand from traders is also subdued because the number of containment zones has increased, leading to shutting of shops and lesser working hours due to the orders. If the trader reaches in the evening he cannot upload the goods and would wait till the next day. Demand is also muted due to Ramzaan.
The government, like other states, wants to resume all business activities across Maharashtra. In New Mumbai, all SMEs and shops are actually gearing up to start operations.
To avoid crowding, the APMC authorities had issued special identity cards approved by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and endorsed by the Maharashtra police.
Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra have been on the rise even as the state has been under a lockdown for over a month.
On Wednesday, Maharashtra reported 1,233 new covid-19 cases, taking the state's tally of positive cases to 16,758.
Mumbai, Pune and Thane are the worst-affected regions in Maharashtra. While Mumbai has reported nearly 10,000 coronavirus cases so far (9,945), Pune has over 2,000 Covid-19 cases and 1,404 are infected in Thane.
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