This story is from March 30, 2020

For the first time since March 20, supply of perishables surpasses demand in Kolkata

For the first time since March 20, supply of perishables surpasses demand in Kolkata
KOLKATA: The supply chain of essential commodities, including the perishable items, steadied further in Kolkata with empty stores being replenished. The city saw a huge influx of perishable items. For the first time during the lockdown period, in many wholesale markets, there were no takers for 10% of vegetables on Sunday.
State government has started a transport control for coordination with other states for cargo that either originates from Bengal or is scheduled to come here.

For the first time since March 20, the day Janata Curfew was announced by the Prime Minister, grocery stores witnessed a respite from panic-buying. Stabilized supply has instilled confidence among buyers and panic-buying has largely diminished.
Posta Merchants’ Association general secretary Biswanath Agarwal said: “70% of the wholesale shops kept their doors opened. Even on Sunday, a weekly closure day for Posta, we managed to run 30% shops for keeping the the supply chain to retail markets alive.”
There is a shortage of staff and porters, who load and unload items. An association member said: “We have arranged for food and accommodation for staffers, who could not return home and ‘mutias’, who managed to come walking from their distant homes.”
From 12pm till 4am, Koley Market, one of the biggest wholesale markets in the city, saw tremendous influx of vegetables. “Koley Market received 170 trucks of vegetables. This is almost one-and-a-half times more than the usual supply. On Sunday, supply surpassed demand and 10% vegetables had no takers,” said
Kamal Dey, president, West Bengal Vegetable Vendors’ Association.
The price of potato has plunged but there is a yawning gap between the wholesale and retail price. The Jyoti variety was sold at Rs 13/kg in Hooghly, where it is produced in large scale. The wholesale price was Rs 15. “Potato should have been available in Kolkata markets at Rs16-18/kg. But it is selling at Rs 20-23/kg,” said Hooghly Potato Traders association secretary Lalu Mukherjee.
Following a series of measures adopted by the state government, the supply chain assumed the robustness. The state government is closely monitoring the markets. The Enforcement Branch, too, has been carrying out necessary raids. “We hope that if there is any demand-supply gap, it will be completely eliminated from Monday,” said a source.
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