Mumbai: Farmers protest after being denied to set up market, throw vegetables

MUMBAI: Farmers protested outside mantralaya by throwing crates full of vegetables on Friday. They were protesting after the local BMC officials did not allow them to set up a farmers market in Kandivili.


Farmers, who were mostly from Osmanabad district in Marathwada, had come to Mumbai to sell their produce and were turned away by the BMC staff. They wanted to set up stalls in Thakur complex, said one of the protesting farmers.



"We were not being allowed to sell our produce by the BMC officials, so we decided to dump the vegetables outside mantralaya," said a farmer.

"The government has allowed farmers to sell fruits and vegetables outside the AMPC markets. But we were not being allowed to sell our produce by the BMC officials, so we decided to dump the vegetables outside mantralaya," said a farmer. They also said that farmers from outside the state are allowed to sell their produce anywhere in the city, but farmers from the state are not being allowed.

Farmers also said that they were not getting adequate price for their produce in their areas and that is why they were forced to come to the cities with their vegetables. "It is not profitable for us to bring vegetables to Mumbai from Osmanabad, but we came hoping for a good price," said another farmer who was part of the protest.

The Maharashtra government in 2016 amended the APMC Act and de-listed fruits and vegetables from it. Which allows farmers to sell fruits and vegetables directly in the open market without going to the APMC markets, doing away with the middlemen. The state government is encouraging weekly markets in the state, there are so far 126 markets in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai.

Police detained the farmers and took them away to Marine Drive police away. "We detained them and took them to the police station, but they were released by evening," said a police officer from the Marine Drive police station.