Civic body seals Berhampur mango hub
Berhampur: The Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) authorities on Monday sealed the mango market on Andhapasara Road here — one of the biggest wholesale mango bazaars in the state — for violating Covid-19 regulations. The market will remain closed till further notice.
“The mango traders violated rules by not maintaining social distance, even though we repeatedly asked them to follow guidelines prescribed by the government as well as the district administration,” said BeMC commissioner Chakravarti Singh Rathore. “As they did not obey the instructions, we had no choice but to close the market,” he added.
Around 70 wholesalers trade at the market. Mangoes from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana arrive here in trucks before being supplied to Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Puri, Rourkela and even to West Bengal and Jharkhand. “At present, 4,000 to 5,000 tonnes of mangoes are coming from the southern states to the market daily. The quantity is expected to increase post-lockdown and in the run-up to Savitri Amabasya,” a trader said.
The market saw crowds for the past few days as several retail businessmen from across the district would visit it to procure the fruit. “No social distancing was maintained,” said a BeMC official.
Moreover, since the mango-laden trucks are coming from states like Andhra, Telangana and Karnataka, the fruits should have been sanitised before delivery, the official added.