This story is from March 29, 2020

AP Lokayukta directs Chittoor collector to ease movement of essential commodities

Lack of coordination among revenue, police and other government wings is resulting in needless scarcity of essential commodities like vegetables and fruits.
AP Lokayukta directs Chittoor collector to ease movement of essential commodities
HYDERABAD: Lack of coordination among revenue, police and other government wings is resulting in needless scarcity of essential commodities like vegetables and fruits.
Chintamani wholesale market which is nearer to Chittoor but geographically falls in Karnataka state is a classic example that is now hit badly by coronavirus scare.
Scores of lorries carrying vegetables are being blocked at the nearby check posts.
This is happening despite assurances from the chief ministers of the southern states that there is no bar on the movement of essential commodities. A typical case that is reflecting the ground realties more came to the notice of AP Lokayukta Justice P Lakshman Reddy.
Bhaskar Reddy a farmer from Chandrayunipalli village of T Sadum mandal in Chittoor district made a telephonic complaint to Lokayukta office conveying the plight of the farmers in their area where beet root, carrot crops are ready to be harvested but not being done so, because the traders from Karnataka who send skilled labourers to harvest these root based crops have not been sending the labourers. This is on account of the restrictions on the movement of vehicles at the check posts.
This is unfortunately resulting in an undeclared blockade of vegetables and fruits. Wholesale traders from several states come to Chintamani market, buy vegetables like beet root, carrot, cabbage etc and also fruits like mangoes and oranges from here. Later they transport the same to big cities like Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai etc.
As this supply chain is interrupted, already wholesale fruit markets like LB Nagar fruit market in Hyderabad are adversely affected. There are dismal supplies of mangos into these markets. A closer study reveals that the problem lies at the lack of coordination that is resulting in needless blockade of the essential commodities. This blockade of essential commodities will create artificial scarcity in towns and cities and is pushing up their prices.

Upon receiving the complaint, Justice Lakshman Reddy directed Chittoor district collector to talk to the relevant authorities and ensure easing of the movement of essential commodities. Adequate steps for maintaining social distances at the wholesale markets should be taken but they need not be completely closed. This is harvesting time for the farmer but the actions of the officials are resulting in a piquant situation where traders are not coming to the fore to harvest and refine vegetables like carrot and beet root. Officials should ensure that bottlenecks at the ground level are removed. Talk to your counter parts across the border to mitigate the difficulties of the farmers at one end and consumers on the other, Justice Lakshman Reddy said.
The Lokayukta also said that farmers and other sections of people who cannot move on account of the ongoing lockdown can make their complaints to their office through telephone.
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