Delhi’s Azadpur mandi won't shut down for now despite currency crunch

NEW DELHI: The Azadpur fruit and vegetable wholesale market, which has seen sales drop by almost 50% in the past four days after demonetisation, has deferred its decision to close down the market till at least Tuesday, especially since the mandi will remain closed for two days--on Sunday and for Gurpurab on Monday.

Traders warned that there may be some shortage of vegetables in the wholesale market for the next couple of days or the quality of produce may not be particularly good since vendors are trying to finish off their old stock. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal visited the mandi on Saturday and was asked by traders to intervene in the issue.

“Met traders and labour at Azadpur mandi. Could adversely affect daily supply of fruits and vegetables to Delhi if liquidity problem not solved. Am worried,“ the CM tweeted.


Traders had warned of a closure of the wholesale market if the Centre did not allow them to withdraw more. “We have no money to pay anyone. We may have to close down the mandi unless the government allows us to withdraw at least 50% of our total daily sales from the bank. A meeting was held on Saturday where we decided to wait for a few more days.We will be meeting again in the coming week to take a final decision,“ said Metharam Kriplani, president of the Chamber of Azadpur Fruit and Vegetable Traders.

Four days after the government's move, mandi officials said that everyone had now run out of change.