Covid-19 night curfew will affect the vegetable, fruit supply chain, complain traders

With the sudden announcement of the night curfew, the vegetable and fruit vendors based in KR Market and Kalasipalyam are astounded with the decision of the chief minister saying this would badly affect the business.

The wholesales procure the produce when it is available in the midnight hours and said the curfew would impact the supply chain.

Manjunath, a vegetable wholesaler said the government will permit trucks, however, the traders do require porters for loading and unloading of the consignments. He said, “Our labourers have no ID cards and are refusing to turn up fearing police crackdown. Though the curfew ends at 5 am, by the time we get labourers and sort out the consignment, it would be 8 am or 9 am in the market itself. How are we to supply the materials to retailers in the city and adjoining districts if labourers don’t turn up between 3 am to 4 am?.”

Another wholesaler at Dasanapura APMC stated that there are trucks which reach here from the neighbouring states. He said, “What if they are stuck at the border?”

He further said, “ We may have to arrange for vehicles to get workers during the night. Even then, there is no guarantee that we could make timely delivery (of materials) to other districts.”

Another trader, Sridhar, revealed that the curfew will have a negative effect on the wholesalers as well as farmers. He said, “It will delay inter-district transport of materials.. Every day, nearly 400 trucks and goods vehicles drive in and out with commodities during the night.”

A wholesale vegetable market merchant at KR Market, Anand Giri, deliberated on the use of night curfew as people would be sleeping. Does the government want people  to crowd the market during the day?” Giri said. “The curfew will only trigger panic, force people to get out of their homes in large numbers and get infected.”

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