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Journalism of Courage
This is an archive article published on April 15, 2021
Talala, hub of Kesar mango goes for voluntary lockdown
Talala, the town in Gir Somnath district, with population of around 35,000, remained completely shut after local traders’ body gave a call to go for complete lockdown for five days.
The deserted main bazar of Talala. (Photo by Sardarsinh Chauhan)
Talala, the hub of Kesar mango, and several other towns in Saurashtra entered voluntary complete lockdown on Wednesday in view of rising Covid-19 cases.
Talala, the town in Gir Somnath district, with population of around 35,000, remained completely shut after local traders’ body gave a call to go for complete lockdown for five days. “Our friends in health department confided in us that the number of antigen tests returning positive in Talala town was much higher than official figures and suggested that going for a complete lockdown can help break the chain of infections. We agreed to the suggestion at our meeting held on Monday evening, and decided that all traders would voluntarily remained closed for five days beginning from Wednesday. All the members of our body have cooperated and therefore, the town remained shut today,” Mukesh Tanna, vice-president of Talala Chamber of Commerce and Industry, an association of around 700 traders of Talala town, told The Indian Express on Wednesday.
Only shops selling essential items and medicines remained opened during the day.
Harsukh Jarsaniya, secretary of Talala APMC agreed the infection rates are very high but expressed hope that the situation will improve in time for the beginning of Kesar mango season. “Presently, our APMC yard in Talala records arrival of vegetables only and we are planning to start auction of mangoes in the last week of this month. While it is true Covid-19 infection has spread in Talala town as well as in villages in the mango belt, we are hopeful of the situation improving over the next few days and starting auction of mangoes,” said Jarsaniya.
The mango marketing season usually starts towards the end of April and goes on for around six weeks.
Meanwhile, neighbouring Gir Gadhda and Una also joined Talala in entering voluntary lockdown. “Una town is recording average 100 fresh infections of Covid-19 every day even though it is a different matter that official figures quote much smaller numbers… Therefore, we decided on Saturday that we shall enter voluntary lockdown for six days from Wednesday,” Ishwar Jethwani, president of Una Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
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