Potato Traders call off strike, retail prices likely to reduce
After a meeting with the state agri-marketing minister, the potato traders have declared to call off their strike from Wednesday evening.
With a section of potato traders having struck work since Saturday, fear of price escalation of the essential vegetable is likely from tomorrow. Supply of potatoes has allegedly dwindled in many areas due to the strike by Progressive Traders’ Association.
According to Progressive Traders’ Association, the attempt to augment supply of potatoes from cold storages on the directive of the chief minister to bring down prices in the open market had run into trouble after the cease-work by a section of the traders at border areas.
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Lalu Mukherjee, secretary of the association of potato traders said that about 80,000 traders had joined the cease-work. A similar situation was witnessed in 2014, when transport of potatoes had been blocked at border areas but this time no such directive was there, alleged Mr Mukherjee.
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The traders association said that the chief minister had not advised them against blocking alleged transportation of potatoes but asked for strict surveillance.
The chief minister had asked the officers concerned for release of potatoes from cold storages in the state to deal with the alleged artificial crisis in potato supplies.
The state Pragatishil Aloo Babsayi samity has called a strike protesting against the stopping of potato-loaded lorries at the Bengal border, thus cutting off transportation of potatoes from West Bengal to neighbouring states of Odisha, Bihar and Jharkhand.
Mr Mukherjee added unless the lorries at the state border are allowed to cross over to neighbouring states, potatoes in the cold storages cannot be unloaded for sorting and repacking. Hence, the supply of potatoes in the wholesale and retail markets may be badly affected. Taking advantage of the short supply of potatoes, a section of potato traders may again jack up the prices of the potatoes in the wholesale and retail markets.
“We are not in favour of dragging the strike. We want prompt action from the concerned state government department to resolve the problem at the border, where the potato-laden lorries are being stalled,” he said.
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