The issue of rapidly falling trade in the Aurangabad Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) located at Jadhavwadi is likely to grab centre stage in its upcoming election scheduled on July 12.
Devendra Sheth, secretary of the General Kirana Merchant Association (Aurangabad), said the arrival of agriculture produce at the Jadhavwadi yard has seen a sharp decline in the last few years. "In 2010-11, the market had posted arrival of more than 861,000 quintals of agriculture produce, but the figure slipped to 4.5 lakh in 2014-15. This shows that the farmers, traders and buyers are shying away from the market mainly on account of poor infrastructure facilities," he said.
On the other hand, the nearby APMC in Lasur has posted an impressive growth over the same period. "From 5.26 lakh quintals in 2010-11, Lasur APMC's agriculture produce arrival jumped to 8.16 lakh quintals in 2014-15. If trade in Lasur APMC can prosper, why are we witnessing downturn?" he said.
Sheth said most of the traders, who are eligible for the polling, have decided to vote for the candidates who would take measures to strengthen trade activities at the APMC.
Trader Sanjay Kankeria said the APMC has failed to provide required space to many traders. "Besides poor state of roads and other facilities, the APMC could not provide enough space for storage and handling of material at Jadhavwadi. This is also restricting many traders based in Mondha area to shift to Jadhavwadi," he said.
In April 2014, about 70-80 traders of Jadhavwadi market yard had resorted to strike demanding closure of trade outside the APMC-recognised market. They accused around 40-45 traders of illegally selling agriculture produce in the de-notified market area in Mondha.
