Operations at Navi Mumbai’s Vashi APMC onion-potato market resumed after Mathadi workers and traders reached a temporary arrangement to handle sacks weighing up to 52 kilograms, although the final decision on the permissible limit will be taken at a meeting with Marketing Minister Jaykumar Rawal on Tuesday.
The agreement was reached during a joint meeting of Mathadi worker representatives and traders at the Mumbai Agricultural Produce Market Committee premises on Friday. The immediate arrangement covers agricultural produce already present in the market and allows the loading and unloading of sacks weighing up to 52 kilograms.
The dispute had affected transactions in the onion-potato market over the issue of the 50-kilogram weight limit. Work was halted on Thursday after Mathadi workers insisted that the prescribed 50-kilogram limit be implemented. Traders subsequently kept the market closed on Friday, while workers maintained their position on the handling limit.
The disagreement also led Mathadi workers to protest on the roads, creating tension in the market area for some time. The workers have been demanding that agricultural produce arriving at the market comply with the government-ordered limit of 50 kilograms per sack.
Traders, however, have argued that the weight of sacks containing perishable produce can increase to some extent. According to the report, this difference in positions became the central issue between the two sides and disrupted activity in one of Navi Mumbai’s important wholesale agricultural markets.
The onion-potato traders’ association claimed that market activity had returned to normal after Friday’s meeting. The temporary decision allows the handling of sacks weighing up to 52 kilograms that are currently in the market, preventing an immediate stoppage in the movement of the produce.
The arrangement does not settle the underlying dispute over the weight limit. The final decision is expected at Tuesday’s meeting between representatives of the workers and traders and Marketing Minister Jaykumar Rawal. Until then, the market’s handling practices will remain governed by the temporary agreement reached at the APMC meeting.
