Curfew effect: Tonnes of fruit not lifted, perished

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, March 27

Wholesale fruit traders have claimed that their tonnes of fruit have perished due to non-lifting with the curfew restrictions being imposed suddenly in the state.

Kanwaljit Singh Pahwa, a fruit trader, said wholesale traders had procured more stocks of fruit keeping in mind their increased demand during the Navratras.

However, they could not sell fruit since Sunday after the enforcement of the ‘Janata Curfew’. “Moreover, papaya, banana, grapes, kinnow, apple and other varieties of fruit have a shorter shelf life. So, the wholesalers do not have any other alternative but to throw them away as these were rotting,” they said.

Arvinder Singh, president, Fruit Merchants’ Association, said fruit sellers had to incur losses worth crores of rupees. He demanded that the government must waive 4 per cent market fee and the rural development fund of fruit sellers.