Entry to APMC fruit market halts for an hour after tiff over parking vehicles
The fallout led to major traffic congestion as hundreds of fruit-laden trucks arriving from different parts of the country were forced to queue on the public road awaiting their turn to enter the market.
Mumbai: The entry and exit gates leading to APMC fruit market, Turbhe, were closed for an hour on Monday morning after a tiff broke out between the mathadi workers and the transport vehicle union over parking of empty vehicles which caused inconvenience to workers in unloading goods.
The fallout led to major traffic congestion as hundreds of fruit-laden trucks arriving from different parts of the country were forced to queue on the public road awaiting their turn to enter the market.
“The issue was about empty transport vehicles not exiting the market area thereby leaving no space for vehicles with goods to enter. Simultaneously, the mathadi workers were also finding it difficult to unload and ferry the goods to the respective vendors. As a result, the gates were closed to determine the further course of action,” said the deputy secretary, fruit market, Sangeeta Adhangale.
On Monday, as per the security gate records, a total of 79,586 vehicles with mangoes had entered the market, of which 31,090 were from within Maharashtra and 48,496 were from other parts of the country.
The impact of the issue affected the motorists the most. They sought intervention from traffic police as the vehicles had come to a complete standstill in a stretch of more than 1 kilometre. “I was stuck in the traffic for almost two hours and there was absolutely no idea as to why the huge trucks ahead were not moving,” said Nitin Gupte, a resident of sector 27 Vashi. Twitter too was abuzz with motorists in distress seeking the help of traffic police to decongest the area.
Taking note of the inconvenience caused, the traffic department said it had issued notices to the market committee to take appropriate action.
Officials recounted the troubles faced regularly in streamlining the traffic congestion on this route. “Just a week back, we had issued a notice to the market committee to take adequate measures to avert traffic congestion, as due to Ramzan, the demand for fruits increases. On Monday as well there was a huge inflow of vehicles carrying fruits. When the gates were closed, these vehicles made double-line parking,” said traffic police inspector Vimal Bidave.
The market committee taking cognizance of the matter on Monday called an urgent meeting with the transport union. The union was told to ensure that no empty vehicles are parked within the complex.
“It has been categorically informed to the union that henceforth no empty vehicles are to remain parked within the complex. Those failing to abide by this rule will be levied with a penalty and those continuing to resist will stand to lose their transport licence,” added Adhangale.
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