The ongoing stir by the Jat community is becoming a cause of worry for traders at Delhi’s fruit and vegetable markets. The traders fear if the protests continue, it is bound to hit supplies to the Capital. The availability of even milk is likely to be hit with some parts of the city already facing such shortages.
Sunday was a calm day at the mandis in the city as they remain shut and supplies were not hit until Saturday as well. But what lies ahead is quite uncertain as traders claim the impact would be visible from Monday onwards. “We hope the roads are opened by tomorrow as trucks begin to reach the mandis early morning. Unfortunately, majority of these supplies come from Haryana side, so if the protests do not ease, then problems would begin,” said Rajender Sharma, member of Azadpur Agricultural Marketing Produce Committee (APMC).
Having hardly any produce of its own, Delhi largely gets fruits and vegetables from other States like Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh.
The problem being that except from UP, trucks bringing in supplies of essential commodities from other States come to Delhi via Haryana (NH 1, NH 8 and NH 10) which are being blocked by the protestors. Denying reports that wholesale prices of some vegetables have already increased, Mr. Sharma added, “So far, there has been no hike in cost of any fruit or vegetable. The rumours are a bid by retailers to cash in on the Jat protests.”
According to traders at the Azadpur Mandi, the largest fruit and vegetable market in Asia, the items which may take a hit if the roads are not opened include potatoes, cauliflowers, onions, grapes, apples, spinach and so on. “The transporters who are aware of the protests are now avoiding going via Haryana and are now taking an alternate route via Baghpat in Western Uttar Pradesh,” said the trader.
Milk supplies also hit
Areas like Rohini and Pitampura faced shortage of milk supplies on Sunday. One of the largest milk suppliers in Delhi, Mother Dairy Fruit and Vegetable Private Limited, also said that it has begun to face problems because of the crisis.
Sandeep Ghosh, Business Head – Milk section of Mother Dairy said, “We are currently experiencing some consumer supply disruptions in select pockets of Delhi. However, we are taking all corrective measures to ensure that the consumer supplies are normalised by evening today.”
“While in terms of raw milk movement, we are assessing the situation to address any such supply challenges to the incoming milk to our plants,” he added. Operations at Amul's milk plant in Rohtak remained suspended. It has a capacity of 5 lakh litres per day. Kwality Limited said it has stopped milk collection from its chilling centres in Sirsa and Fatehabad.
