Commodities prices stable despite statewide indefinite transport stir

UNITED NEWS OF INDIA

Mumbai, Aug 2: Prices of most essential commodities remained stable at the wholesale markets here despite a statewide indefinite transport strike. Traders said that prices of sugar, oils, onions, potato, spices and vegetables were nearly steady with minor differences due to the availability of adequate stocks at the yards. While the Bombay Sugar Merchants Association claimed that there was no arrivals and despatch of trucks from the market, vegetable traders said that they had received about 443 truck-load vegetables today as against 500 trucks on a normal day. Onion and potato traders reported a sharp drop in arrival of trucks. Today, the market recorded an arrival of 109 trucks as against normal arrival of 350-400 trucks everyday. Traders said that the strike impact on the prices would be felt after a couple of days as the stocks depleted with rising demands from retailers. According to the Maharashtra Rajya Truck Tempo, Tankers, Bus Vahatuk Mahasangh office bearers, the city received about 20,000 to 22,000vehicles every day carrying essential commodities. `` Today, the movement of trucks, tempo and private buses were negligible,'' they claimed. Speaking to UNI, federation of Bombay Transporters president Raghubir Singh Gill said that the transporters are not opposed to the state government allowing private vehicles like cars and buses to carry essential commodities. ``The state government can do whatever they wish to. We are opposed to the imposition of toll tax and the strike has been called for its removal. The transporters will not wish that the common people should suffer.. So they are free to transport essential commodities by the railways'', he said adding that the state government should have completed construction of all the 55 flyovers before imposing the tax. Meanwhile, a Bombay Oils and Oilseeds Exchange Spokesman said that supply situation for edible oils has been normal and the effect of the strike on the prices would be felt only when the strike continues for too long.

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