In view of several locals arriving in the wholesale vegetables and fruits market in Niranjanpur amid the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic, the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) of Dehradun has decided to take action against such people. Since the Covid curfew has been imposed in the city, the officials of the committee said that the movement of loading vehicles and vendors was restricted in the premises of the Niranjanpur Mandi. However, many locals continue to arrive on daily basis to buy a few kilogrammes of vegetables and fruits which can be easily bought from their nearby vendors, informed the officials. "We started an odd-even system for vehicles' entry in the Mandi so that supply of vegetables and fruits does not get affected by the pandemic here. Though the suppliers and vendors are abiding by the rules, many local people visit the Mandi daily to just buy one kilogramme of vegetable and fruit. The sad part is that they bring their young children with them in such critical times in Mandi where hundreds of people interact every day. Many of them are even senior citizens," said the secretary of APMC, Vijay Thapliyal. He further informed that when the authorities do not allow their entry into Mandi premises and try to make them understand the reason, locals create a scene and insist on buying supplies from the Mandi. "We have now decided that if any local arrives in the Mandi to buy a handful of vegetables and fruits supplies, the committee will impose penalties and take action against them," said Thapliyal.

Meanwhile, many locals have opined that prices of some fruits and vegetables have increased rapidly in some parts of the city since the district administration announced the Covid curfew. In the last few days, the price of coconut water alone has soared from about Rs 50 to near about Rs 80 and above. Talking about this, Thapliyal said the prices of coconut water have increased in the Mandi recently too due to which, a slight increase in the prices in the local market was expected. He added that one of the reasons for the higher prices of coconut water in the local market is that people are buying coconut water with the belief that it boosts their immunity amid the Covid surge like they didwhen dengue cases had increased about two years ago. However, he said that the team of APMC is visiting various locations regularly to restrict the illegal rise in the prices and most of the vegetables and fruits markets are selling supplies at suitable rates. He also asserted that some local vendors might be spending extra to get their supplies amid the pandemic due to which they might be recovering the extra cost by raising the prices of their supplies but the committee would look into such cases too.