CAIT puts business loss worth 14,000 cr due to farmer protests

New Delhi, Dec 23 (KNN) The ongoing agitation of farmers of on the borders of Delhi for the last 26 days, has caused a huge loss of business worth Rs 14 thousand crores in Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh (UP), said Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT). 

Taking it as a critical issue for the business community and the people, the traders' body has urged the farmer leaders to resolve the issues with the central government through the process of dialogue immediately.

CAIT has also requested the Supreme Court (SC) that it would be better if the vacation bench of the apex court may hear the matter as early as possible especially in view of the problems of traders and people of Delhi and other states.

National President of CAIT BC Bhartia and its Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal, said that due to the farmers movement, about 20 per cent trucks are not able to bring goods to Delhi from other states of the country due to which goods sent from Delhi to other states are also being adversely affected.

''Every day around 50 thousand trucks bring goods from different states across the country to Delhi and about 30 thousand trucks carry goods from Delhi to other states. At present, there is no shortage of essential commodities and other items in Delhi. CAIT and All India Transport Welfare Association (AITWA), the largest organization in the transport sector, are jointly monitoring the movement of goods on a daily basis and making every effort to ensure that there is no shortage of anything in Delhi or in any other state,'' CAIT said on Tuesday.

Bhartia and Khandelwal jointly said that various items including FMCG products, consumer durables, food grains, fruits and vegetables, groceries, dry fruit, electronics, electrical goods, medicines, building materials, Iron - steel, textiles, machinery, building hardware, wood and plywood, readymade garments etc. come to Delhi in large numbers every day from other states.

CAIT further said that all these goods usually come from Delhi - Jaipur, Delhi-Mathura, Agra Expressway, Delhi-Ghaziabad HighWay, Delhi-Chandigarh HighWay etc. mainly because these highways connect Delhi with all the other states of the country and due to the ongoing farmers protest on the highways, either the roads are closed or the trucks have to travel around Delhi for a long time because of the long traffic, due to which the supply is delayed or interrupted.

''If the movement goes on for a long time, there is a possibility of supply disturbances but at present there is no shortage of anything and CAIT and AITWA have decided that the supply chain will be continued under any circumstances,'' CAIT added.