Following the direction of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Delhi Government’s Food and Supplies department has started conducting raids in wholesale markets to check hoarding of onions in the Capital. The department has constituted 11 enforcement teams and raided over 250 wholesale dealers and retailers of onions on Wednesday and Thursday.
Sources told The Pioneer that around 18 wholesale dealers were prosecuted during the raids on Wednesday. Teams raided 50 wholesale dealers on Wednesday. Continuing the raids on Thursday the teams raided over 200 wholesale dealers around the Capital. As per statistics available, 50 wholesalers and retailers were raided in Azadpur, 40 in Keshopur Mandi, 35 in Ghazipur and 30 retailers in Najafgarh.
“No hoarding of onion was found during the raids conducted on Thursday,” said an official from the enforcement team. Sajan Singh Yadav Secretary (Food and Supplies) said that the department will continue raids on wholesalers and retailers to prevent hoarding of onions in the city.
In a related development, Delhi Government has sent a two-member team comprising Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) chairman Rajender Sharma and Secretary Ramesh Tiwari to Maharashtra to assess the situation and check the ground reality.