PANJIM: The nation-wide bandh called by trade unions and transporters had a major impact on the supply of essential commodities including vegetables, fish and meat. Consumers had to rely on local vegetable produce, which was sold at higher prices compared to prices on normal days, with no veggies coming in from Belgaum on Wednesday morning.
The Panjim fish market, which is otherwise crowded in the morning, wore a deserted look, with only four fisherwomen selling small quantities of fish. In the absence of tippers, fish sellers, who claimed losses, were not able to transport fish from the jetties to the market.
“Today no fish…no vehicles to ferry fish…huge loss for us…we have asked people to go directly to jetties and purchase fish,” a fisherman said.
The situation was repeated in the case of meat supply, with shops in the market shut. Meat sellers were seated outside their closed shops, calculating their losses. “We are not in support of this strike, but have to keep the shops closed as the vehicles that transport meat are off the road. We supply fresh meat to our consumers every day,” Yakub, a meat seller said.
The vegetable and fruit market was less crowed on Wednesday, with limited supply of veggies and fruits. “We were aware of the strike and had preserved some quantity of vegetables for today. The supply is less and unfortunately some vegetables have also got spoilt,” a vegetable vendor said.
The Horticulture Corporation outlets drew a poor response as they too had limited stocks.
