Amdavadis may face vegetable shortage from this Saturday

AHMEDABAD: Vegetable traders in Ahmedabad are up in arms against the government after they were first not allowed to operate from the Jamalpur APMC by the police and were then were prevented by Jetalpur wholesalers from using the space there. The traders have threatened to stop all sale of vegetables from Friday, sparking fears of a major vegetable shortage in the city.
A trader in the Ahmedabad APMC said, “Local traders in the city have called their counterparts in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra and told them not to load vehicles for Ahmedabad from Wednesday.” Trade will continue on the main road and service road outside the Jetalpur market yard on Wednesday and Thursday, as many supply vehicles had already left.”
“From Friday, supply will stop not just at the Ahmedabad market yard, but also those in Saurashtra and North Gujarat. Supply will also be affected in North India, as many vegetables are there from Ahmedabad. The vegetables coming from Maharashtra or southern states are lemons, capsicum, coccinia, ginger, tomatoes and cauliflower, among others,” the trader said.
Bharat Khamar, president of the Ahmedabad Vegetable General Commission Agents Cooperative Society, said, “We have been told to stay away from the Jamalpur market till July 15. We have hence decided to refrain from trading as the government has failed to give us alternative arrangements at Jetalpur.”
Another trader asked that if the Kalupur market, Naroda fruit market and Bhadra market are open in city, why are restrictions imposed on the Jamalpur market. “If they feel overcrowding will lead to more cases, the same traders are going to Jetalpur to buy produce. The treatment should be the same for Jetalpur and Jamalpur. If officials say that there are more cases in Jamalpur, they should note that the area has not reported a single case in the last 15 days,” he said.
Another trader said, “We are forced to do business under streetlights or to use car lights.” He added that the police often makes lathi charges and several traders have been injured.