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Bangalore's potato, onion merchants to close shop on Thursday

Meanwhile, Ramesh Chandra Lahoti, president, Bangalore Wholesale Food Grains and Pulses Merchants’ Association, said a meeting was called at 11 am on Monday to discuss the issue with other associations. “We are yet to take a decision on extending support to the bandh call. We will discuss this with other associations at the APMC before taking a final decision,’’Lahoti said.

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Stock your kitchen with onions and potatoes as about 350 potato and onion merchants will go on strike on Thursday. The protest is against what the merchants term as the “coercive” methods of the Agricultural Market Produce Committee (APMC). They allege that the committee failed to take them into confidence while taking up construction of the market near Dabaspet.

If the APMC has its way, the prices of potato and onion are expected to bound northward since the retailers have to pay extra money towards transportation of onions and potatoes from Dabaspet to various areas in Bangalore.

“The APMC has taken the decision to construct the Potato and Onion Mega Market near Dabaspet without taking us into confidence. It will be difficult for the retailers to come all the way to Dabaspet from Bangalore to buy potatoes and onions. They have to spend extra money on transportation,’’ said BL Shankarappa, president of Bangalore Potato and Onion Merchants’ Association.

The APMC is in a terrible hurry to inaugurate the Potato and Onion Mega Market on September 6 as its tenure will expire on September 19, Shankarappa said adding that it failed to provide the basic infrastructure at the mega market. “They are interested in publicity and least bothered to discharge their duties. They have constructed only 240 shops while the number of potato and onion merchants is 350,’’ he said.

Stating that the location was not suitable for potato and onion merchants, C Udayashankar, secretary, Bangalore Potato and Onion Merchants’ Association, said the APMC had opted land near Dabaspet for the construction of the market instead of Srigandha Kaavalu on Magadi Road. “I suspect that APMC committee members opted for construction of the market near Dabaspet to promote the real estate business of a politician. I can’t understand why the APMC committee failed to construct the market at Srigandha Kaavalu on Magadi Road,’’ he said.

There are 350 licensed potato and onion merchants at APMC, Yeshwantpur, doing Rs6 crore to Rs7 crore worth of business per day. About 400 truck loads of onion and potato arrive at Yeshwantpur APMC yard from Hassan, Challakere, Chitradurga and Hassan daily during the season. The APMC gets more than Rs1 lakh revenue from potato and onion sale every day. “We are in talks with pulse and grains merchants to support us on September 6. We expect them to close the shops on that day," he said.

 

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