21 June,2015 08:40 AM IST | | Ankoor Anvekar
Truckloads of fruits are waiting to be unloaded at the APMC market; traders say there is no space to stock fresh produce
Fruits float in the water inside the market premises
While heavy showers on Friday created havoc at the Vashi APMC (Agricultural Produce Marketing Corporation) market, the situation became more chaotic on Saturday with most traders at the fruit market having no space to store the fresh supply of produce.
Fruits float in the water inside the market premises. File photo
Due to heavy rains across Mumbai on Friday, train services were suspended and as a result most retailers did not turn up and the day's stock remained uncleared. And on Saturday morning an additional 400 truckloads of fruits arrived.
Balkrishna Shinde, a fruit trader at the APMC market said, "Due to heavy rain on Friday the stock was not cleared. As a result many traders couldn't unload the fresh supply from the trucks yesterday. This lead to heavy traffic jams inside the market as trucks were lined up waiting to get the goods cleared."
On Friday, traders had already expressed fear that the produce would get spoilt in the rain if it was not sold within a few days. "The produce should be cleared on the same day, especially during the monsoon, as perishable commodities like fruits anyway get somewhat damaged during transport under extreme conditions," said Deepak Jaiswal, another fruit trader at the APMC market.
On Saturday, heaps of rotten fruits and vegetables were seen scattered across the market premises. Each year this crisis is revisited during the rains leading to a drastic fall in fruit prices, which is every fruitarian's dream come true but a nightmare for the traders.
