Journalism of Courage
The city is set to face a shortage of essential items as the wholesale market for vegetables,fruits and flowers will remain shut till Saturday when a decision whether to extend the closure will be taken. This means,starting Thursday,the prices of these items will also begin to shoot up.
The decision to keep over 900 shops run by vegetable,fruit and flower wholesalers at the Shivaji Market in Gultekdi closed till Saturday is a precautionary measure.
While the vegetable and fruit market will be closed from Thursday,the potatoes and onion market will be shut from Friday afternoon. The goods for this market come from Agra and over 40-50 trucks carrying potatoes and onions worth Rs 1 crore are on their way to the city, said Shivlal Bhosale,president,Chhatrapati Shivaji Market Yard Merchants Association.
The market has already been witnessing a decline of up to 30 per cent in the number of customers over the past few days. The yearly turnover of the market is in the range of Rs 700-800 crore. The farmers from the surrounding areas are reluctant to come to Pune because of the swine flu threat, said Subodh Zende of Shri Guru Dutta Fruits,a wholesaler.
Goods delivered to wholesalers may not be sold as they will not reach retail markets. Considering that it is a three-day closure,it will mean a loss of about Rs 6 crore, said Bhosale. We want our customers to be safe. Fruits and vegetables will be made available through the Bazar Samitee distribution channel,where farmers can reach out directly to customers.
Ravi Boena,manager of a fruit juice centre in the Camp area,said business was already down by 50 per cent. If the wholesale markets close down,it would dwindle by another 10 per cent during the weekend. We depend heavily on fresh fruits and vegetables.
