As India enters the latter half of the 3-week lockdown, some grim news is coming in from Nashik and Western Mumbai as farmers are unable to harvest their crops and transport goods due to lack of labour during the lockdown. Traders, on the other hand, are unable to get their vehicles into the city following the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in Mumbai.
“Covid-19 has badly hit vegetable supply to Mumbai. Vehicles are not allowed in most parts of the city,” Secretary of Nashik’s APMC, Arun Kale said.It is said that around 150 vehicles leave from Nashik to Mumbai on a normal day. However, since the lockdown, authorities are only allowing around 40-60 vehicles each day, resulting in huge losses for traders and farmers.
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With only around 150 to 200 tonnes of produce coming in every day, markets in the city have seen a 60 per cent drop in the supply of fruits and vegetables. Additionally, some of the drivers who transport these commodities are said to be reluctant to travel to Mumbai given the high volume of cases in the region.
Then there’s the concern of the limited shopping window every day, which means the traders are uncertain about selling off their stock. There’s no doubt that the lockdown has inconvenienced a lot of people, and especially farmers in remote corners of the state.
It is hoped that the State Government will take some steps in order to support the farmers who are facing losses, while also taking care of the traders who act as a bridge between the farmers and the consumer.
We recently spoke about the plight of the dairy farmers who had to throw away excess milk due to the lockdown. However, the Maharashtra government promised to buy milk from societies for Rs 25 per litre and process it into milk powder for online sales.
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