THE GOAN NETWORK
BELAGAVI
Supply of vegetables and other agricultural products to Goa and neighbouring areas are expected to be streamlined on Tuesday, after Karnataka’s Agriculture Minister BC Patil directed the district administration to make elaborate arrangements to allow farmers to supply their produce.
Accordingly, Belagavi Deputy Commissioner Dr S B Bomanhalli will work out a solution to supply vegetables and other agricultural products to Goa and other states.
Responding to the prevailing speculation and confusion regarding the supply of vegetables to the region, including Goa, Sindhudurg and other parts of Maharashtra, Patil visited Belagavi to regularise these supplies after listening to grievances of farmers and wholesalers.
Chairing a meeting with Belagavi Deputy Commissioner Dr S B Bomanhalli, former minister Satish Jarkiholi and other senior officials at the Circuit House here, Patil instructed district authorities to streamline supplies by the farmers.
“Ensure that supplies by farmers reach the wholesale market without any hindrance as the government has not imposed any ban on the transport of agriculture produce, fruits and other essential commodities. Also, ensure that people do not face scarcity of these items and take extra care to ensure swift supplies,” Patil directed the officials.
Deputy Commissioner Dr Bomanhalli assured that local supplies and supplies to other states would be streamlined.
It may be recalled that a heavy rush of suppliers at the APMC wholesale vegetable market amid the lockdown had been a major problem to authorities.
In order to avoid a rush at the APMC market, it was decided to divide the wholesale vegetable market at four places, but the decision has not gone down well among farmers and wholesale suppliers.
Accordingly, the wholesale vegetable supplies will be now made from four places in the outskirts of Belagavi city.
With Monday being the weekly off, wholesale vegetables will be now supplied from Tuesday from the new RTO ground (Kanbargi Road), Indal ground, Poddar High School ground (Sambra road) and Malini City (B S Yeddiyurappa Marg).
Though wholesale suppliers have been allotted their respective locations, confusion still prevails among the farmers and suppliers about how the new formula is expected to work.
“Amid restrictions, it is not going to be easy to streamline the supplies. We will only come to know on Tuesday,” said a wholesaler.
