STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: During the corona-induced lockdown a number of temporary vegetable wholesale markets have sprung up in Guwahati. With these, as on date Guwahati has a number of vegetable wholesale markets as against only one before the lockdown.
Such a situation has come in the metropolitan city when the Assam State Marketing Board's Fruit and Vegetable Wholesale Market at Pamohi in the Gorchuk area was closed in accordance with the COVID-19 protocol since March 24, 2020. All these temporary vegetable wholesale markets catered to the vegetable needs of the consumers during the lockdown. Even now, a number of such vegetable wholesale markets operate their business. However, on September 3 the Fruit and Vegetable Wholesale Market at Pamohi opened under the COVID-19 protocol.
Talking to The Sentinel, Pamohi Fruit and Vegetable Wholesale Market's marketing inspector Dharanidhar Das said, "We've opened this wholesale market after around five-and-a-half months following all COVID-19 protocol with the help of the Kamrup (M) district administration. We've appealed to all customers and traders in the wholesale market to strictly adhere to COVID-19 protocol – compulsory wearing of face masks, maintaining at least one metre social distancing, not taking gutkha or any other tobacco inside the market, not to spit here and there, washing hands with soaps and sanitizing them with alcohol containing sanitizers.
"We've already distributed hundreds of face masks, installed three basins with running water in the market for washing hands, made arrangements for sanitizers, five thermal scanners are in operation – two in the gate and the remaining three inside the market.
"The wholesale market has 358 stalls in all – 124 are wholesalers with godowns and the rest are retailers. We've made it a rule to man a stall by only one person and it can't be visited by more than one customer at a time. The State Agricultural Marketing Board has provided us 80 employees – 40 officials and as many fourth grade workers – to monitor the market. During the normal situation before the lockdown, only 10 or 12 employees used to monitor the market.
"We've stocks of all vegetables ready in the market. However, there are unauthorized vegetable wholesale markets that came up in Guwahati, especially at Lokhara and Kotahbari, during the lockdown. These unauthorized vegetable wholesale markets should be evicted by the administration."
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