Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (MS)

Mangaluru, Apr 5: The wholesale vegetable and fruit vendors of Central Market in the city are reluctant to follow the district administration's instructions to shift to APMC yard in Baikampady.

Instead, the merchants have asked the district administration to provide them permission to operate from Nehru Maidan, service bus stand or Karavali Utsav grounds near Ladyhill. In a statement, Mohammed Mustafa, president of market merchants' association said that an appeal in this regard has already been submitted to the deputy commissioner on Saturday, April 4.

Though the DC had ordered to shift the Central Market businesses to APMC yard of Baikampady two days ago, the vendors have not heeded the orders. The district administration had not permitted business from 11 pm of Friday to 4 am of Saturday. Hence the wholesalers sold the goods to retailers from the point of entry of trucks carrying fruits and vegetables to the city.

The wholesale vegetable and fruit merchants of Central Market are not agreeing to the recommendation of district administration to shift their businesses to Baikampady saying that it is too far from the city and also lacks infrastructure.
The president of merchants' association opined that as this is a temporary arrangement till the lockdown gets over, they should be allowed to do business from the other three alternate venues within the city. It is possible to maintain social distancing in those spots as the areas are quite vast. But the district administration is pressuring the vendors to operate from Baikampady itself and efforts are on to convince the merchants, he said.